Steelmakers, who are struggling to raise rebar and section steel prices even in April, the peak season, are reacting by cutting production activities.
According to statistics, South Korea's steel production fell 9.5% year-on-year to 5.3 million tons in March. In the first quarter, production fell by 2.5% and crude steel output stood at 16.2 million tons. This decline also reflects the general trend in the sector.
Industry representatives say that weak demand is causing difficulties in long products, while low-cost imports are causing difficulties in flat products. Heavy plate imports in particular reached the highest level in the last 90 months. Last month, 202,126 tons of heavy plate were imported, of which 130,000 tons came from China.
Experts expect this situation to deepen not only in the first half of 2024 but also in the second half of the year.
South Korea's crude steel production is likely to continue to be negatively affected by the ongoing recession in the construction sector and the increase in imports.
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