South Korea's ferrous scrap imports hit new low in H1CY'23

In the first half of 2023 (January-June), major ports in South Korea received only 2.57 million tonnes (mnt) of ferrous scrap. Details of port entry reports show a continuous decline in scrap imports since the first half of 2020. The second quarter of 2023 indicates a clear decline in import volumes. Lower volumes imported by leading steelmaker Hyundai Steel contributed to the overall decrease in scrap arrivals at ports.

Trend analysis

Quarterly trends in port entry reveal a declining trend. The average reported arrivals per week in the second quarter of 2023 was 102,393 t, the lowest since the third quarter of 2019. The third quarter of 2020 also witnessed the average figure contracting to 103,875 t. Imports are not expected to increase in Q3CY'23, indicating continued stagnation.

Weekly scrap arrivals

This week, a total of 73,184 t of steel scrap arrived at major ports, indicating an increase of approximately 5,000 t compared to last week. While most ports received either lower or similar volumes compared to the previous week, Hyundai Steel experienced a significant rise in imports.

Hyundai Steel

Hyundai Steel's proportion of total port arrivals declined from about 65% in 2019 to approximately 31% in the first half of 2023.

Recent arrivals for Hyundai Steel consisted of 40,973 t of steel scrap, with 11,213 t sourced at Incheon and 29,760 t at Pohang. This substantial rise in volumes is in stark contrast to last week's report of only 5,000 t of new arrivals. Notably, Hyundai Steel's ferrous scrap accounted for 56% of total port arrivals.

Dongkuk Steel

Imports by Dongkuk Steel at Incheon dropped to 11,300 t, down from its previous imports at Jeonju, which decreased by approximately 7,000 t from last week.

POSCO

POSCO brought in 7,111 t of steel scrap exclusively at Pohang during the period under review. Seah Besteel also reported arrivals at the port last week.

Imports at Busan

In Busan, YK Steel reported new arrivals of 5,000 t, while Daehan Steel recorded 3,000 t. Moreover, Hwajin imported 5,800 t of steel scrap from Masan.

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