South Korea's domestic hot-rolled product prices likely to fall by up to $37/t for September

South Korean blast furnace steel producers reduced prices of hot-rolled products in July and August. The trend is expected to continue in September as well.

According to the steel pipe industry players, domestic blast furnace steelmakers are planning to lower hot-rolled prices by KRW 30,000-50,000/t ($22-37/t) in September, although there will be differences.

In response to the above, steel giant POSCO said, "No decision has been made yet on the price of hot-rolled products in September."

Currently, the supply price of hot-rolled products for August input is around KRW 90,000/t ($67/t).

However, the drop in domestic as well as overseas hot-rolled product prices cannot rule out the possibility that the price of steel pipe products will fall further. The changes in hot-rolled price directly reflects in steel pipe products faster and deeper.

Currently, the market price of 2mm black tube for structural tube is as high as KRW 900,000 -KRW 1 million/tonne (t). Therefore, construction companies will be exposed to losses due to high-priced raw material inventory and lower sales price.

Thus, the steel pipe industry is expected to improve profitability by rapidly depleting the existing hot-rolled inventory, injecting low-cost raw material and depleting steel pipe inventories.

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