South Korea’s two major steel producers, POSCO and Hyundai Steel, witnessed a decline in sales volumes of external plates, both monthly and annually, in Jan’22.
In Jan’21, total sales stood at 9.3 mnt, down 3.6% m-o-m and 11.4% y-o-y mainly due to decline in exports.
- Domestic sales stood at 635,000 tonnes in Jan’22, up 18.7% against Dec’21 and 0.8% against Jan’21.
- Exports accounted for 295,000 t in Jan’22, down 31.4% m-o-m and 29.8% y-o-y.
Market participants were expecting domestic sales to decline amid seasonal lull and maintenance scheduled at POSCO’s Gwangyang works. Steelmakers had prioritised domestic supplies to maximise the impact of loss in production coupled with reduced imports amid China’s uncertain export policy and Japan’s blast furnace related issues.
Production
Plates production too edged down monthly as well as annually in Jan’22. Production volumes stood at 945,000 t, dropping by 7.8% m-o-m and 6.4% y-o-y.
Outlook
Production and sales of plates in Feb’22 are likely to go down further monthly as well as annually.
Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between SteelDaily and SteelMint.
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