- Chinese volumes remain dominant despite decline
- Malaysian shipments surge amid sourcing shift
SteelDaily: South Korea’s stainless steel hot-rolled and cold-rolled wide strip imports stood at 29,101 tonnes (t) during 1-26 Apr’26, according to provisional customs data. Cold-rolled (CR) material accounted for 16,536 t or 56.8% of total arrivals, while hot-rolled (HR) imports were 12,565 t, indicating stronger downstream preference for value-added finished products.
Hot-rolled imports decline; Japan leads supply
HR imports fell 24.7% y-o-y to 12,565 t, while the average import price increased 9% to $1,937/t from $1,777/t last year, reflecting lower availability of discounted cargoes and firmer offers. Japan remained the largest HR supplier with 5,517 t, accounting for 43.9% of total HR imports, at the lowest average price of $1,262/t.
Chinese HR imports dropped sharply by 62.8% y-o-y to 2,943 t, though average prices climbed to $2,254/t. Taiwanese arrivals declined 46.4% to 1,699 t, while Indonesian volumes more than halved to 902 t.
Cold-rolled imports fall; Malaysia posts sharp rise
CR imports declined 41.5% y-o-y to 16,536 t, while average prices remained largely stable at $1,918/t against $1,899/t a year ago. China remained the largest CR supplier with 9,090 t, representing nearly 55% of total CR imports, despite a 19.7% y-o-y drop. Chinese CR was also the lowest-priced material at $1,579/t.
Malaysian CR imports surged 328.3% y-o-y to 2,771 t from 647 t, with average prices around $2,147/t, indicating an emerging alternate sourcing channel. Taiwanese CR imports fell 63% to 1,015 t, while Indonesian arrivals eased to 1,421 t. Indian CR imports increased to 403 t. Vietnamese CR shipments nearly disappeared, dropping over 99% y-o-y from 10,730 t last year to only 99 t.
Outlook
South Korea’s stainless steel imports may remain diversified in the near term as buyers rebalance sourcing amid price competitiveness, trade flows, and shifting Asian supply availability. Malaysian material could continue gaining share if competitive offers persist.
This article is published as part of a content-exchange agreement between SteelDaily and BigMint.
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