South Korea: Ferrous scrap inventory steady w-o-w amid low demand

• Central region sees increase, south remains stable
  
  
• Low demand leads to output halt, delayed price cuts
  
  

SteelDaily: This week, the combined ferrous scrap inventory of eight major South Korean steel mills increased slightly compared to last week, fluctuating within the mid-700,000-tonne (t) range for the third week of December. It stood at 758,000 t, up from 752,000 t in the previous week, primarily due to a significant decrease in the central region.

Inventory levels increased in the central region, while those with steel mills in the south were stable.

Region-wise inventory

Central region: In the central region, scrap inventory increased by 5,000 t w-o-w, reaching 412,000 t.

Hyundai Steel's Dangjin plant reported a 1.7% increase in inventory compared to the previous week. In contrast, Dongkuk Steel's inventory rose by 2.5%, and Hwanyang Steel's levels remained unchanged w-o-w.

Southern region: In the southern region, inventory levels remained steady compared to last week, at 346,000 tonnes. Most companies kept their levels unchanged, including POSCO, and Hyundai Steel's Pohang plant.

The combined inventory of Daehan Steel and YK Steel increased by approximately 1.6%, Korea Special Steel dropped by 11.9%.

In the case of the Korean special lecture, it is reported that the price reduction application date has been postponed three times since last week. However, the decrease in price was due to lower inventory levels compared to usage.

A market participant stated, "Demand for products is low. Some steelmakers have halted production and are not accepting steel scrap. Additionally, the volume of goods is expected to remain low for the rest of the year to meet year-end sales targets'

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