Crown Prince Friedrich said, "In steel production, the Empire still held an overwhelming advantage over other countries. That in itself was determined by our population and market."
The market Crown Prince Friedrich referred to here naturally meant the domestic market.
East Africa's market size was itself closely tied to its enormous population. Among the world powers, only East Africa had a population exceeding two hundred million. As for relying on overseas markets to sustain East Africa's current massive steel output, that was impossible.
The overseas steel market could be roughly divided into two parts: industrialized nations and non-industrialized nations. The former already possessed relatively formidable steel industries and could meet their own needs.
East Africa, the United States, and others could not only satisfy their own demand for steel but also export it. Such countries imported virtually no steel.
As for countries like France, Japan, and Italy, their steel industries were developed, but they lacked raw materials. Thus, their demand for raw materials such as iron ore and coal was greater.
Non-industrialized nations had underdeveloped steel industries and a strong demand for steel, but their purchasing power was very low.
Take the Far East Empire as an example. The population in the areas currently controlled by the Far East Empire had reached more than three hundred million, and it had also been mentioned that the steel industry within the Far East Empire's borders was extremely backward, with pitifully little steel output.
Yet their annual steel import figures were not as high as one might imagine, at least in the eyes of an industrial power like East Africa.
According to data from the East African Intelligence Department, the Far East Empire's total imported steel in 1936 amounted to just over six hundred thousand tons. Even at its peak in 1930, total