SANJO-SYOUTETSU ASSOCIATION

Sanjo Commercial Railway Association Union leader Ryouji Aiba

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the members for their continued support and cooperation in our activities.
It has been almost two years since the new virus infection has occurred, and I understand that you are spending a lot of time in your daily life with the prevention of three sickness and the inconvenience of wearing a mask.
Currently, the fourth state of emergency has been issued in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and the wave of infection is repeating.
Vaccination with the new virus infectious disease vaccine has finally begun, but daily reports indicate that the transportation schedule has been delayed and it has reached all people who wish to receive the vaccine in Japan, and it is still unclear when the vaccination will be completed.
From the viewpoint of preventing the spread of infectious diseases, the ordinary general meeting and the extraordinary general meeting were also resolved in writing for the Reiwa 2nd year business of our association, and the New Year's party was unavoidably canceled. The committee activities were also canceled due to the decision of the chairpersons.
Since last year, we have been preparing for the 130th anniversary of our founding, and we have caused a great deal of trouble to the members of the preparation department including the chairman of each event department, but this year's 130th anniversary of our founding business Has been postponed to next year in consideration of everyone's health and safety.
Next year, I would like to carry out a commemorative project after the environment is ready for everyone to participate in the project with peace of mind.
This was the result of giving top priority to everyone's health, safety, and security, and it was a tough decision. Thank you for your understanding.
Now, I would like to describe the trends and recent conditions of the automobile industry, which is the largest industry in Japan.
The largest consumer of special steel is the automobile industry, but it is greatly affected by the effects of the new virus infection and the shortage of semiconductors. According to the recent announcement by eight major domestic automobile companies including Toyota, domestic production in FY2008 decreased by 15.8% from the previous year to about 7.61 million units.
Furthermore, in addition to the sluggish production until summer due to the new virus infection, the global shortage of semiconductors has been a factor pushing down the company as a whole. Global total production also fell by 12.1%.
Even for the automobile industry, the key to production activities is the convergence of the new virus infectious disease and the stable supply of parts worldwide.
In addition, in order to realize "2050 carbon neutral" (effectively zero CO2 emissions), it is necessary to take environmental measures and reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2 in all industries in the future. Automakers are under pressure to respond to the environment, such as promoting EVs and developing "zero carbon steel" that does not emit CO2 if it is a steel manufacturer.
Let's promote actions that are conscious of carbon offsets in our offices and daily lives, and let's spend safely in actions and lives in response to the new virus infection.