From the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, steel output had been an important indicator of a nation's strength. As the food of industry, steel output could measure the scale of a country's industry and infrastructure construction. This was also the main reason why East Africa had placed the steel industry first when formulating its industrial development plans.
As a great power, East Africa had undeniably achieved astonishing results in many fields. Yet steel output revealed that East African industry still had a long road ahead. Although East Africa ranked third or fourth in steel production, its per capita steel possession was the lowest among the leading countries.
This showed that East Africa's steel industry still had enormous room to grow in scale, and also reflected the vast gap between East Africa's current level of industrialization and that of advanced industrial nations. Therefore, during the Second Five-Year Plan, continuing to raise East Africa's steelmaking capacity remained an unchanged goal.
Ernst summarized, "The steel industry provides the most basic production materials for every line of work. Railways, shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing, power equipment manufacturing, construction, engineering projects, and more all require vast quantities of steel. Therefore, steel output is a crucial link restricting the development of other industries. As our country accelerates industrialization, steel enterprises must provide more steel for construction across the nation."
"At the same time, as the times advance, East Africa also needs more specialized, high-quality, and diverse steel materials. This is particularly important to the development of emerging industries and the national defense industry. Therefore, upgrading the steel industry does not merely mean pursuing quantity; quality is equally necessary. We must find the balance between quantity and quality and promote the sound development of the national steel industry."
After discussing the direction of steel industry development, railway