South Korea: CR exports in Aug’21 drop to 8-month low

South Korea’s domestic cold-rolled (CR) steel production recovered while export volumes of the same fell to the lowest this year, as per SteelDaily.

In August, cold rolled sales amounted to 593,510 tonnes (t), going below the 600,000-t-mark for the first time this year.

On a y-o-y basis, domestic sales of cold-rolled steel sheets increased 11.2% to 283,679 t, continuing a rising trend.

On the other hand, export sales in August dropped 24.3% y-o-y to 306,672 t, the lowest levels since Dec’20.

According to Korea Steel Association, cold-rolled sheet production stood at 683,531 tonnes (t) in Aug’21, registering an increase of 2.6% over the corresponding period last year (CPLY). Even though production has decreased slightly on a monthly basis, it was consistently in sync with the levels of 670,000 t per month, showing a smooth flow.

Region wise y-o-y sales comparison:

Sales of cold-rolled steel sheets to China plunged 64.1% to 49,869 t, while those to Turkey and Latin America dropped 41.4% and 7.9% to 5,146 t and 42,091 t respectively.

Cumulative production and sales of the country’s cold-rolled steel in Jan-Aug’21 moved up sizeably on an annual basis.

• CR production registered an increase of 11.9% to 5.39 million tonnes (mn t).
• Sales volumes increased by 9.4% to 5.83 mn t.

Out of the total sales, domestic sales stood at 2.29 mn t, up 14.5% y-o-y, while exports stood at 284,336 t, up 5.7% y-o-y.