Large Contract with Japan

In times of economic uncertainty and trade conflicts, two of the world’s largest economies are moving closer together with the free trade agreement between the EU and Japan that came into force at the beginning of 2019. Japan and the European Union face similar challenges in terms of climate change, demographic development and the digitisation of their societies.

The strengths of the highly efficient Japanese economy lie particularly in international trade and research-intensive high technology – Japan is considered the leader in technology production. There are hardly any households in Austria that do not use Japanese products for mobility, for the home office or for entertainment.

SAB is now proving that technology transfer is also possible in the opposite direction, more precisely from hilly western Styria to the Japanese main island of Honshu. In recent years, a concept for a highly automated furnace has been developed, which was successfully concluded in February 2022.

“The furnace, which will go into production from 2023, will be one of the most advanced of its kind in the world”

The province that the fully automated furnace system will call home is as idyllic as a postcard. High forested mountains, houses with traditional curved Japanese roofs. Mountain pines stretch majestically with the Hida Mountains in the background.

As traditional as it looks here, production will be just as modern, and will begin in 2023 about a three-hour drive from the metropolis of Tokyo – when the fully automated SAB furnace is in operation, it will be one of the most modern of its kind in the world.

Special thanks also go to the Tokyo office of Advantage Austria for their valuable support, the internationalisation agency of the Austrian economy.