No. 562: Increasing the presence of Japanese energy-related technology in developing countries (July 14, 2012)

Business trend:

Japanese engineering companies are actively expanding energy-related business to developing countries. JEF Engineering, for example, will promote sales of such garbage-disposal facilities as incinerators and gasification melting furnace, water purification facilities, and facilities related to thermal power generation. As the market of garbage-disposal facilities is expected to grow with a population increase in developing countries, the company wishes to increase overseas sales three times over the level in 2012 to 70 billion yen in 2015. In developing countries, it will draw design anew to increase local content for cost reduction instead of modifying the design for the Japanese market.

Nippon Steel Engineering established a marketing base in Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam to expand overseas sales. The company plans to increase the ratio of overseas sales to its total sales from 25% in 2011 to 40% in 2016. Japanese engineering companies that originated from a steelmaker exhibit strength in incinerators and gasification melting furnaces. Especially, the gasification melting furnace can enjoy growing demand even in advanced countries, because the policy to reduce landfilled solid waste will grow widespread against the background of environmental restrictions that grow more stringent. Unlike the conventional furnace, the gasification melting furnace produces ashes reusable for a roadbed material not to mention exhaust heat for power generation, and it reduces landfilled solid waste because it can process flammables and metals together.   

A gasification melting furnace by JEF Engineering