South Korea: Ferrous scrap inventory at major mills remains stable w-o-w

This week, the ferrous scrap inventory at eight major Korean steel mills remained largely stable. Inventory levels decreased primarily in the southern region, where price cuts took effect starting in June, but this was offset by an increase in the central region.

The inventory of ferrous scrap held by domestic steelmakers this week was approximately 767,000 tonnes (t). Although this represents a decrease of about 1,000 t compared to last week, the level remains virtually unchanged.

Region-wise inventory

Central region: The inventory in the central region was recorded at 398,000 t, an increase of 2.3% from the previous week. Inventory changes at Hyundai Steel's Incheon and Dangjin plants were minimal, while Dongkuk Steel saw an increase of 15.6%. Only Welcome Steel experienced a decrease, with a reduction of 3.2%.

Southern region: The southern region's inventory decreased by 2.6% from last week, reaching 369,000 t. Hyundai Steel's Pohang Works, which implemented price cuts early, saw an 11.1% reduction, while POSCO's inventory decreased by 0.5% and Korea Steel's by 5.7% compared to the previous week. Conversely, the combined inventory of Daehan Steel and YK Steel, which were the last to cut prices, increased by 5.5%.

Inventory levels were being adjusted due to independent variables such as different price adjustment points in each production industry and the inflow of unofficial imports.

In the process of finding a new balance between supply and demand, each manufacturer is experiencing various changes in inventory levels. Therefore, it is expected that it will be difficult to identify a uniform reason for increases or decreases in inventory for the foreseeable future.

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