POSCO and Hyundai Steel, two major Korean steel producers, have reported an increase in production and sales of hot-rolled plates in August 2022.
Sales stood at 910,000 tonnes (t) in August, up 0.6% m-o-m and 4% from the same period last year. Domestic sales accounted for 550,000 t out of total sales, down 11.3% m-o-m and 12.7% y-o-y.
The increase in sales is due to increased efforts towards exports as domestic sales remained slow amid continual fall in imported prices and low demand in summer.
In the first eight months of current calendar year (January-August) hot-rolled plate sales dropped 4.6% y-o-y to 7.2 million tonnes (mnt) compared to January-August, 2021.
Out of total sales, 4.8 mnt accounted for domestic sales – down by 5.3% compared to previous year.
Production picture
In August, exterior plate production stood at 845,000 t, down 5.1% against July, and 6.1% from the same period of last year. During January-August period, production volumes dropped 5% y-o-y to 7.11 mnt.
According to officials, fall in production and sales of plate seems inevitable for the time being due to the damage caused by Typhoon Hinnamno in early September at POSCO’s Pohang works.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between SteelDaily and SteelMint.
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