A 20-Year Partnership: COSCO Kawasaki and Baosteel

Nantong COSCO Shipping Kawasaki Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Nantong Kawasaki") and Dalian COSCO Shipping Kawasaki Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dalian Kawasaki") are large Sino-Japanese joint venture shipbuilding enterprises established by China COSCO Shipping Corporation and Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (collectively referred to as "COSCO Shipping Kawasaki"). Nantong Kawasaki, founded in 1995, is renowned for manufacturing ultra-large container ships, bulk carriers, and car carriers. To date, it has built and delivered over 300 high-quality vessels. By adhering to a philosophy of continuous improvement, implementing lean management, and perfecting its service system, the company is recognized as a benchmark in China's shipbuilding industry and has long been ranked among the top ten shipbuilding enterprises in China.

Strong Independent R&D and Pursuit of Excellence

Stepping into the office building of Nantong Kawasaki, design staff are diligently working at multi-screen computers in every office. The company possesses robust independent R&D capabilities and pursues excellence in ship manufacturing, with shipbuilding processes and quality consistently remaining at the forefront domestically. In its early days, Nantong Kawasaki primarily used thick plates produced by Japanese steel manufacturers. After Baosteel's 5-meter wide heavy plate production line was completed in 2005, Baosteel's ship plates began to tentatively enter the shipyard. From an initial volume of around a thousand tons, the annual supply to both Nantong Kawasaki and Dalian Kawasaki has now reached approximately 350,000 tons. Over the past 20 years, the collaboration between Baosteel and COSCO Shipping Kawaski has continuously deepened, with supply volumes and order structures gradually optimizing, and the proportion of high-strength ship plates steadily increasing.

Milestones in Collaboration

Currently, with the continuous expansion of heavy plate product certifications for shipyards, Baosteel has basically achieved full coverage of heavy plate varieties for all ship types at COSCO Shipping Kawasaki. In December 2018, the cooperation between Baosteel and COSCO Shipping Kawasaki officially exceeded 1 million tons; by February 2024, it had surpassed 2 million tons—a milestone achievement. As of August 2024, the cumulative supply has reached 2.5 million tons. In November 2024, after 20 years of successful collaboration, Nantong COSCO Shipping Kawasaki, Dalian COSCO Shipping Kawasaki, and Baosteel Co., Ltd. once again joined hands to successfully hold a new round of strategic cooperation signing ceremony, officially opening a new chapter of in-depth collaboration.

Why Baosteel Remains the Preferred Choice

From a broader perspective, the significant development of China's steel industry, represented by Baosteel, is something Nantong Kawasaki is willing to support for the revitalization of the national industry. From an enterprise standpoint, Baosteel's products can completely replace imports in terms of quality and cost. Baosteel's advanced and standardized management concepts, supply standards, and logistics services are far ahead of other domestic steel enterprises, aligning perfectly with Nantong Kawasaki's corporate characteristics that emphasize quality and lean management. In recent years, China's shipbuilding industry has flourished, with order intake rising to become the world's first. Efficient and high-quality shipbuilding has become a top priority for Nantong Kawasaki. What shipyards need most is stable quality and stable, efficient supply according to plan.

Reliability and Mutual Understanding

For Nantong Kawasaki, having Baosteel around provides a sense of security. In 2023, due to unexpected circumstances, the company's supply of imported ship plates was suddenly interrupted. Upon receiving a request for help from Nantong Kawasaki, Baosteel immediately opened a green channel and organized production and supply with extremely high efficiency. During the pandemic and during maintenance periods for overseas suppliers, Baosteel's escort ensured that Nantong Kawasaki launched one giant ship after another on time and efficiently. Heavy industrial enterprises share a common spirit; they understand each other's needs. The cooperation between Nantong Kawasaki and Baosteel sets an example for collaboration between shipyards and steel enterprises.

Operational Efficiency and Future-Oriented Collaboration

Nantong Kawasaki's steel storage yard is very small, with a capacity of only over 10,000 tons. Different stages of ship assembly require steel plates of different models and sizes, demanding precise and on-demand delivery from steel mills. Baosteel's delivery model of small batches and high frequency perfectly matches Nantong Kawasaki's 'JUST IN TIME' philosophy. It significantly shortens yard occupancy time, improves berth turnover rates, enhances production efficiency, and reduces storage costs. Should engineering adjustments be necessary, personnel from both sides have established exceptionally smooth communication mechanisms. Baosteel also has dedicated liaison personnel to ensure that materials required by Nantong Kawasaki are delivered promptly within a short time frame.

With the widespread application of intelligent and AI technologies in manufacturing, the domestic shipbuilding industry is also actively integrating into this new industrial transformation. Nantong Kawasaki is further emphasizing the application of digitalization and AI on-site to enhance manufacturing capabilities and lead industry development. Currently, the company is pursuing the unmanned operation of storage yards as a breakthrough point, thereby advancing the digital transformation of the entire production process. There is hope that Baosteel will accelerate the development of product QR codes and, with the help of visual recognition technology, assist in promoting yard unmanned operations and overcoming bottlenecks in intelligent production. Both sides can join hands to exchange more ideas on digital intelligence applications to achieve more efficient and intelligent shipbuilding.

Conclusion: A Model of Strategic Synergy

Building a large ship requires 30,000 to 40,000 tons of steel. The vigorous development of China's shipbuilding industry provides a huge market and space for the domestic steel industry. It is precisely because of strategic users in the shipbuilding industry like COSCO Shipping Kawasaki that Baosteel Co., Ltd. has achieved good sales performance in heavy plates and other products and sustained enterprise development. In recent years, Baosteel's heavy plate production, sales, and research team have continuously strengthened strategic cooperation with key shipyards, enhanced product R&D and manufacturing capabilities, strengthened technical service capabilities, and provided integrated solutions, carving out a blue ocean in the increasingly competitive ship plate market. It is believed that with the joint promotion from leaders of both sides, the concerted efforts of grassroots employees, and the accelerated development of China's shipbuilding industry, the cooperation between Baosteel and COSCO Shipping Kawasaki will surely go further and last longer

Baohui Steel

Having served as Baosteel's authorized dealer for over two decades, Shanghai Baohui Steel has rapidly developed by leveraging Baosteel's strengths and possesses unique advantages in the ship plate sector, particularly with the newly promoted heat-treated ship plates. These have improved the surface quality and processing performance of traditional ship plates, which is of great significance for ultra-thin specifications. This meets the demands of large shipyards like Nantong COSCO Kawasaki for the construction of refined and specialized vessels. Baohui Steel will carry forward with Baosteel's ship plates, sailing into broader horizons