South Korea: Ferrous scrap inventory at major mills rises 5% w-o-w

This week, the ferrous scrap inventory of eight major South Korean steel manufacturers witnessed an increase of 5% to 825,000 tonnes (t) in comparison with 790,000 t reported in the previous week. Notably, this is the first time since early May that inventory levels have exceeded the 800,000-t mark. Also, the rise was observed in both the central and southern regions.

Region-wise inventory

Central region: In the central region, steelmaker's scrap inventory levels rose by 6.1% from the previous week, reaching 431,000 t. in terms of companies, Hyundai Steel's Incheon and Dangjin plants experienced an inventory increase of nearly 8% compared to the previous week, while Hwanyoung Steel and Dongkuk Steel saw their inventories grow by 6.4% and 3.6%, respectively.

Southern region: In the southern region, the ferrous scrap inventory stood at 394,000 t, marking a 3.1% increase from the previous week. Company-wise, Hyundai Steel's Pohang plant saw its inventory rise by 12.5% compared to the previous week. In contrast, POSCO's inventory decreased by 0.5%, and Daehan Steel and YK Steel's combined scrap inventory dropped by 3.2% w-o-w.

Meanwhile, daily stocks of steel mills in the southern region have been increasing since July, and are estimated to be at around 11,100 t. The increase in stocks is notable among companies that were relatively slow to reduce prices and those that added additional import volumes.

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