SERVING INDUSTRY
AND AGRICULTURE
AROUND THE WORLD
Synthetic Resins
Abrasives
Fine Chemicals
FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVI
Aluminium
Ferroalloys
Industrial Chemicals
Electrodes
Chemical Fertilizers
Electrometallurgical, Electrochemical and Petrochemical Products
From the vast Industrial complex of Showa Denko, numerous quality products flow out in
constantly increasing volume to the world market. Bearing the mark of
they serve with dis- tinction in a wide range of applications-from agriculture to atomic energy.
Behind each product is the company's thirty
Aluminium ingots, alloys Ferrochrome
Fused alumina grains Silicon carbide grains Graphite electrodes
Ammonium sulphate Urea
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years of experience in large-scale manufactur. ing and intensive research in the chemical and metallurgical fields.
Share in the benefits offered by the high industrial standards of Showa Denko. Use SOK products.
Main Products
Carbon black
Polyethylene
Technical urea
Melamine
Propylene glycol
Phthalic anhydride
Laughing gas (N:O)
Acetic acid
Ethyl acetate
Vinyl acetate monomer
Potassium chlorate
Aqua ammonia
Liquid ammonia
Nuclear reaction materials
SHOWA DENKO K.K.
34, Shiba Miyamoto-cho,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japon
October 31, 1963
bought for the first time a sizeable quantity of Vietnamese rubber. Ship- ments of Vietnamese rice to Japan reach only 4,000 or 5,000 tons yearly. Japan always imports the total surplus of Vietnam's salt production.
turbines are installed with a total power of 80,000 kw. A high tension transmission line, 252 kilometers long, will convey the current from Krong Pha to Saigon; its installation is nearly com- pleted, it seems that some difficulties have been encountered in "Zone D", a wooded area 40 miles north of Saigon, where security is poor.
The first stage of the Danhim Dam, construction of which is financed by Japanese funds under the reparations agreement signed in 1959, is virtually completed. A 38-metre wall, 1,450 metres long, has created an artificial lake of 165 million cubic metres in the region of Dran, 20 miles east of Dalat. A 5-kilometre tunnel brings the water to the electric plant at Krong Pha, where South Korea-The Nearest Partner From Han Nae Bok, Seoul ECONOMIC relations between South Korea and Japan have expanded rapidly in recent years in spite of the lack of normal diplomatic relations between the two countries. Trade between the two nations has taken a sharp upward turn chiefly as a result of South Korea's ending discrimination against Japanese goods as a result of the expulsion of the anti-Japanese Syngman Rhee in April 1960.
The second stage of the Danhim Dam, to be completed in 1966, will bring the installed power to 160,000 kw. The total cost of the dam will be about US$44.5 million, of which $37 million are to come from Japanese reparations and $7.5 million from a Japanese
Japan's exports to this country rose from only US$32.4 million in 1959 to US$109.2 million in 1962. During the first half of 1963, Japan sold US$90.7 worth of goods to South Korea, attaining an annual rate of US$180 million. Im ports of South Korean products into Japan rose from US$12.7 million in 1959 to US$23.5 million in 1962, though the figure this year is unlikely to increase owing to South Korea's failure to export rice after the poor harvest of autumn
1962.
The Japanese advance on the South Korean market has been achieved largely at the expense of European competitors, notably West Germany and Italy. Out- side the United States, which is now protected by the Buy American policy applied to its large-scale aid, Japan is the only industrial country of the world that has managed to increase exports to South Korea recently. In 1962 Japan came to account for 58% of all non-aid imports into South Korea (totalling US$177.2 million), compared with 17% from all European countries and 13.7% from the U.S. South Korea's strong preference for Japan as a source of industrial goods she needs to import derives largely from the low cost of imports due to geographical reasons. In addition to low freight char- ges, South Korean importers can usually obtain the quickest deliveries from Japan,
which is very important to them, because they must seek rapid turnover of capital in view of the particularly high interest rates prevailing in the country.
Japan sells to South Korea all kinds of products except finished consumer goods (which South Korea does not im- port). Typical are fertilisers, man-made fibres, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, paper, cement, iron and steel, motors and engines, industrial machinery, power plant, electric appliances, rolling stock and automobiles. Japan moved into first place in sales of machinery and transport equipment to South Korea in 1962, beat- ing West Germany and the United States by large margins. The largest customer for South Korean products, Japan buys from this country sea food, meat, rice (according to availability), industrial crops, all kinds of minerals, anthracite and cotton fabrics.
Refusal of Capital Goods Until recently South Korea had refused to import capital goods from Japan on a long-term repayment basis, on the grounds that "economic cooperation" with that country should come only after relations with Japan were normalised. Last April however the South Korean Government decided to authorise such imports from Japan, and subsequently approved the import on credit of US$3 million worth of materials and equip- ment for a hydroelectric plant. This was followed by an authorisation for the im port of a large quantity of textile machinery from Japan under similar arrangements. But further transactions of this kind are now impeded by a critical depletion of South Korea's foreign exchange reserves.
Japanese trading firms have shown quite a keen interest in development of
loan.
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JAPAN INTO AFFLUENCE
Special
So far only one small Japanese in- vestiment has come into Vietnam, for a porcelain factory, Certain more im- portant projects, including a sugar mill and a textile mill, have apparently been abandoned. Many Japanese trading firms have opened up in Vietnam and are doing quite well. The Bank of Tokyo has a branch at Saigon, and Japanese shipping companies carry a fair volume of freight between the two
countries.
South Korea's export trade, which could in turn lead to increased imports of Japanese goods into Korea. At the moment, their activities arc limited largely to supply of raw materials, com- ponents, equipment and technical exper- tise to South Korean companies for the production of finished goods for export to the U.S., South-East Asia, Europe and other countries.
Among such products are clothing, footwear, sewing machines, radio rc- ceivers, rolled steel products and other goods. The Japanese are also helping South Koreans find export markets through their worldwide connections. But the Japanese are yet to provide any significant financing for South Korean export industries, failing normal diploma- tic relations.
IS
Technical collaboration for the produc- tion of goods for consumption in South Korea
also gaining significance. Technical assistance is being given by the Japanesc for the manufacture of farm implements, telecommunications equip- ment, electric
fertiliser, appliances, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles and textiles and in food process- ing.
Full-scale development of economic ties
South Korea's Trade
(US$ million)
with Japan
Exports Total
Imports Total
1958
16.5
to Japan Exports from Japan Imports
9.8
49.9 378.2
1959 12.7
19.8
32.4 303.8
1960 20.2
32.8
70.4 343.5
1961
19.4
40.9
69.2 316.1
1962
23.5
54.8
109.2 415.2
1963
9.9
38.5
90.7 265.3
(Jan.-Jun.)
Source: Bank of Korea.
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