South Korea’s steel production was majorly impacted by the disruption caused by the typhoon Hinnamnor in September. As a result, the two major steel producers have reported decline in production and sales during the month.
Combined steel sales of the two major producers was reported at 710,000 tonnes (t), down 22% m-o-m and 29.4% on the year. Out of this, domestic sales fell by 27.3% m-o-m to 400,000 t, a decline of 42.4% against the same period last year.
POSCO’s production of hot-rolled (HR) products (outer plates) dropped sharply by around 80% m-o-m to 170,000 t due to halt in operations at Pohang works as the typhoon struck.
Total sales of hot-rolled plates stood at 7.91 million tonnes (mnt) in January-September 2022, down 7.5% against the same period last year. Of this, domestic sales accounted for 5.2 mnt, down 9.8%, while exports were at 2.71 mnt, down 2.7% against the year-ago period.
“POSCO will start normal operations at hot rolling mill-1 this month and hot-rolling mill-2 this year. However, the decline in production and sales are likely to follow the downward trend amid delayed recovery of demand from the domestic market, issues related to supply and the rise in import volumes from China and Japan,” said an industry official.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between SteelDaily and SteelMint.
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