South Korea: Cold-rolled steel sheet production down 5% m-o-m in Apr'22

South Korean mills produced 635,167 tonnes (t) of cold-rolled steel sheets in April 2022, down 5% against 670,089 t in March 2022. However, production remained largely flat compared to 637,133 t in April 2021.

During January-April 2022, production volumes dropped by 3% to 2.65 million tonnes (mnt), compared to 2.73 mnt seen in the same period last year.

Sales down 4% m-o-m in Apr'22

South Korea's cold-rolled steel sheet sales dropped 4% to 639,049 t in April 2022 against 667,216 t a month ago. On an annual basis, the same edged down by 1% compared to 646,823 t in April 2021.

Out of the total sales, domestic accounted for 278,968 t in April 2022, down 4% m-o-m from 289,345 t in March 2022. On a y-o-y basis, domestic sales reported a marginal drop of 1%, against 282,460 t in April 2021.

Exports were recorded at 360,081 t in April 2022, down 5% m-o-m. The same edged down 1% y-o-y against 364,463 t seen in April 2021.

Region-wise sales y-o-y

In April 2022, cold-rolled steel sheet sales to North America and Turkey surged by 224% and 100% y-o-y to 3,365 t and 15,726 t respectively. Sales to Europe rose by 41.9% to 38,468 t and to Latin America by 6.8% to 36,905 t.

The regions where cold-rolled steel sheet sales declined y-o-y were Southwest Asia at 13,265 t (down 22%), Southeast Asia at 66,722 t (down 17.6%), Japan at 27,019 t (down 14.2%), and China at 41,267 t (down 7.7%).

Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between SteelDaily and SteelMint.