South Korea: Steel pipe exports rise in May, hit 3.5-year high

South Korea’s steel pipes exports rose 37% y-o-y and 16.6% m-o-m to 178,266 tonnes (t) in May 2022, as per data released by the Korea Steel Association. Exports have touched 3.5-year high level, as per SteelDaily reports.

Cumulative exports in January-May 2022 rose 26.3% to 773,943 t against the corresponding period last year.

Carbon neutrality and soaring global oil prices led to an increase in exports of oil wells, pipelines and LNG pipelines despite the slow economic recovery and logistics disruptions amid Covid 19 outbreak.

Country-wise exports

Steel pipe exports to Canada recorded a remarkable growth of 410.8% to 14,787 t in May while those to USA increased by 29.2% y-o-y to 96,762 t.

In January-May period, steel pipe exports to Canada surged by 138% y-o-y to 53,989 t, and to USA rose 35.1% y-o-y to 461,914 t.

Imports up  y-o-y

Imports too climbed 38.3% y-o-y and 18.9% m-o-m to 52,370 t in May 2022. In January-May, the volume went up 22.1% to 235,212 t against CPLY.

The rise in imports was mainly due to the drop in imported prices, while prices in the domestic market remained stagnant.

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