A Comparative Study on International Competitiveness of Iron and Steel Industry of Four Asian Countries

The iron and steel industry occupies a significant part of the national economy. In this paper, multi-level grey correlation analysis method is applied to evaluate and analyze the international competitiveness of the iron and steel industry among four Asian iron and steel producing countries: China, Japan, South Korea, and India, by cross-sectional data of the years 2003, 2007, and 2012. The research results show that Japan has the strongest international competitiveness among the four countries, followed by China and South Korea, while India is the least competitive country. Production capacity and the economic environment of China are in a state of competitive advantage, while market performance and the technology level of China are in a state of competitive disadvantage.