越来越多的钢铁企业开始联合。法国北方钢铁联合公司、卢森堡阿尔贝德钢铁公司、西班牙埃塞拉利尔三大欧洲钢铁集团已宣布组建世界第一大钢铁集团;四月中旬,日本钢铁业排名第二位的日本钢管公司和排名第三位的川崎制铁公司正式宣布,将在2002年10月共同设立控股公司,进行联合经营,这将成为 More and more steel companies began to unite. The French Northern Iron and Steel Company, Albemarle of Luxembourg, the three major European steel groups in Spain’s El Serrila have announced the formation of the world’s largest steel group; in mid-April, the Japanese steel industry ranked second in the Japanese steel pipe company and Kawasaki Steel, the third-largest company, officially announced that it will jointly establish a holding company in October 2002 for joint ventures, which will become