China: Minebea Sourcing More Bearing Steel in China

Minebea Co. Ltd. (Japan) said its miniature precision ball bearing plant in Shanghai will dramatically increase production in 2004; at the same time, it will step up purchases of China-sourced 52100 bearing steel. Via its NMB brand, Minebea is the world's largest manufacturer of miniature and precision instrument bearings. In bearings and other products, it employs 45,000 people in 39 manufacturing facilities across 10 countries. Minebea commands a 65% world market share of ball bearings under 22mm bore. In precision rod end and spherical bearings, it has a 60% world market share. Its operation in Shanghai is Minebea Electronics & Hi-Tech Components (Shanghai) Ltd., which manufactures miniature and small-sized ball bearings used for computer fans, along with integral shaft ball bearings used for disk drive heads. Minebea employs over 5,000 people in Shanghai and exports almost 95% of the plant's production -- approximately $237 million -- ranking it tenth among foreign capital companies operating in Shanghai. Minebea Shanghai recently received an important national environmental protection award. Ranked 4th highest out of over 10,000 projects considered, Minebea Shanghai is one of the most ecologically oriented projects in all of China. Built in 1994, the plant sits near Lake Dianshan-hu, Shanghai's principal source of drinking water. Currently, Minebea Shanghai imports 85% of its 52100 bearing steel tube directly from Japan; while only 15% is locally produced, that is up from 0% in 2001. 52100 steel is a specialty, high-carbon chrome steel primarily used to manufacture bearing races. Under the SAE Steel Identification system, 52100 refers to a chrome steel with 2% chromium and 1.00% carbon. Minebea uses only one bearing steel vendor in China, but said that steel plant is expanding its capacity for high-quality 52100. By mid-2004, it will be able to supply Minebea Shanghai with enough high-quality bearing steel to meet 50% of its needs. In September, Minebea revealed it may miss profitability targets for fiscal 2004, partially due to strong downward pressure on its product pricing worldwide. Locally sourcing the bearing steel is expected to produce significant cost savings, not only from the less-expensive local supplier, but also from eliminating the increasingly costly transportation of 52100 steel tube from Japan. As its steel cost declines, Minebea said it will use the opportunity to dramatically increase production in Shanghai. In 2004, production volume is forecast to top 40 million bearings, up from 30 million this year. "Diversification is needed in Minebea's plants in Thailand and Shanghai. The facilities in Thailand will be much more sophisticated, while the ones in China will be focused on labor-intensive processes," Tosei Takenaka, Minebea's Regional Director for Asia, said earlier this year. Unlike many other manufacturers, however, he said he did not expect that Minebea's China production would ever outstrip Thai production.