South Korea: Hot-rolled steel sales drop 2.5% m-o-m in Jun'23

South Korean steelmakers, POSCO and Hyundai Steel, witnessed a drop in sales volumes of hot-rolled steel by 2.5% m-o-m to 935,000 tonnes (t) in June 2023. This was due to sluggish demand in the domestic market. Since March, mills have maintained production of 1 million tons (mnt) for sales every month.

Exports down 13%

Export volumes were recorded at 360,000 t in June, down 13.3% m-o-m. This was the second lowest volume exported this year. Sudden rains in the southern region at the end of June had a significant impact on export volumes.

Domestic sales fall 3.4% m-o-m

Domestic sales dropped 3.4% m-o-m to 575,000 t in June. Sluggish demand in the domestic market along with inflow of low-priced imported hot-rolled steel during the month have impacted sales volumes. Imports of hot-rolled steel increased by 12.8% m-o-m to 312,000 t during the period.

Production rises in H1CY23

Cumulative production of hot-rolled steel for outdoor sales increased by 6.9% y-o-y to 5.752 mnt in January-June 2023. Sales increased by 5.8% y-o-y to 5.699 mnt in H1CY'23. However, this year's performance did not improve compared to the first half of last year. Last year, production and sales of hot rolled steel stagnated due to various reasons like blast furnace repairs, hot rolling facility repairs, drop in imported material prices, and delay in demand recovery at home and abroad.

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