South Korea: Ferrous scrap inventory rises as steel mills cut back on production

• Central region sees steeper rise than south
  
  
• Inventory levels likely to be stable in future
  
  

SteelDaily: This week, the combined ferrous scrap inventory of eight major South Korean steel mills witnessed a slight upswing as prices fell and steelmakers reduced their production. Stocks increased by 2.5% to 773,000 tonnes (t) this week as compared to 754,000 t in the previous one.

Notably, although the southern and central regions experienced an uptrend in stocks, the central region saw a more significant increase than the southern one.

Region-wise inventory

Central region: In the central region, scrap inventory rose by 2.9% w-o-w to 449,000 t.

In terms of companies, Hyundai Steel's Incheon and Hwanyoung plants experienced an 8.3% and 7.8% w-o-w increase in inventory, respectively. Conversely, stocks at Dongkuk Steel and Dangjin Steel remained stable w-o-w.

Southern region: In the southern region, inventory levels were assessed at 324,000 t, up by 1.8% w-o-w. There was no change in the volumes at the Pohang plants of POSCO and Hyundai Steel.

The combined inventories of Daehan Steel and YK Steel rose by 3% w-o-w. On the other hand, Korea Iron and Steel's inventory surged by 15.3% from the previous week.

Additionally, Korea Special Steel recorded an increase of approximately 10.8% w-o-w.

The industry expects inventory levels to remain steady in the future. However, a market participant stated, "It is hard to predict how things will go. As the year ends, steelmakers might try to reduce their inventory, so there is a feeling that they should sell while they can."

Another market participant said, "There is little hope for price increases, and inventory levels are not unusually high. As a result, stocks are being moved at a steady pace without being held back."

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