South Korea’s annual steel export volume in Mar ’21 has witnessed a boost with the revival of major sectors after fall-out from the COVID pandemic. However, countries witness a monthly decline on steel exports over shortage of input materials and resurgence of infection cases in countries across the globe.
1. Semi-finished- Korean mills exported about 81,826 t in Mar ’21 as against 50,735 t in CPLY, increasing by 61% on a yearly basis. Also, the same grew by 89% m-o-m from 43,362 t in Feb ’21.
Country-wise exports- Export volumes to major nations viz.
- Japan volumes stood at 24,524 t in Mar ’21 registering a hike of 25% as against 19,638 t in Feb ’21
- Indonesia imported 20,284 t semi-finished products in Mar ’21 as against 20,111 t a month back, rising up by 1% on a m-o-m basis.
- Meanwhile, exports to Taiwan and China stood at 34,307 t and 2,168 t respectively in Mar ’21.
2. Finished-long- South Korea exported about 1,64,313 t long products in Mar ’21, plunging by 23% y-o-y in comparison with 2,14,456 t in Mar ’20. However, export volumes rose by 23% on a monthly basis as compared to 1,33,204 t in Feb ’21.
Country-wise exports- Major export destinations were:
- Canada imported finished longs of about 35,423 t in Mar ’21 as against 8,100 t in Feb ‘21
- Taiwan imported 27,092 t longs in Mar ’21 registering a spike in comparison with 10,740 t in Feb ‘21
- Whereas, import volumes by Japan fell by 1% to 19,141 t in Mar ’21 as against 19,276 t a month ago.
3. Finished-flat- Korean flat steel producers exported 18,83,895 t in Mar ’21, increasing by 5% y-o-y as against 20,34,618 t CPLY. Meanwhile, the export volumes slashed by 7% m-o-m from 18,02,352 t in Feb ’21.
Country-wise exports- Major export destinations were:
- China imported 11% more flat steel products of about 2,66,917 t in Mar ’21 as against 2,39,544 t a month ago.
- Japan’s import volume stood 2,38,931 t in Mar ’21 in comparison with 2,10,687 t in Feb ’21, increasing by 13% m-o-m basis.
- However, export volumes to India stood at 1,51,568 t and the United States stood at 1,78,247 t, degrowing by 23% and 15% respectively.
4. Ferro-alloys- South Korea’s export of ferro alloys stood at 23,799 t in Mar ’21, increasing by 34% y-o-y as against 17,778 t in Mar ’20. Likewise, the same spiked up by 117% m-o-m as against 10,990 t in Feb ’21.
Country-wise exports- Major export destinations were:-Exports to Netherland dropped by 31% in Mar ’21 to 3,696 t in comparison with 5,352 t a month ago
However, export volumes to United States stood at 3,315 t, Australia stood at 6,800 t followed with Japan stood at 2,587 t in Mar ‘21
Factors driving higher exports on an annual basis in Mar ’21-
a) Dull demand in automobile sector- Korean auto-makers produced 3,33,848 units in Mar ’21 as against 3,68,893 units in Mar ’20, down by 9.5% y-o-y basis, according to the data released by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MoTIE). Likewise, domestic sales also slashed by 6.2% to 1,40,523 units in Mar ’21 compared to 1,49,811 units in CPLY on external conditions for example supply shortage of automotive semiconductors.
b) Economic recovery across globe in CY ’21- The year 2021 has seen a major turn-around across globe with the steel consuming sectors reviving from the fatal blow of COVID since Feb ’20.Alongside this government expenditure on infra-and-construction projects has also set the steel consumption in motion which was hampered due to the lockdown in CY ’20.
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