According to data submitted by Korea Steel to the Financial Supervisory Service, the company's sales in the first quarter of this year amounted to 148 billion won (USD 110 million), down 36.5% compared to the same period last year. Notably, operating profit fell 93.8% to only 1.1 billion won (818,355 USD).
In this case, Korea Steel's operating profit rate in the first quarter of this year was determined as 0.7%, a decrease of 6.6 points compared to the same period last year (7.3%). Despite active cost-cutting efforts, a decline in performance seems inevitable due to the recession in the construction industry.
The purchase price of steel scrap, an important raw material, fell 9.2% from 504,000 won (374 USD) per ton last year to 458,000 won (340 USD) in the first quarter of this year. During the same period, the selling price of rebar also decreased by 7.3%, from 977,000 won (726 USD) to 905,000 won (673 USD).
Korea Steel's rebar production activity ratio (production performance/production capacity) in the first quarter of this year was 67.2%, a sharp decrease compared to the same period last year (93.6%).
These data show that Korea Steel experienced a significant performance decline under the challenging conditions in the construction industry. The company appears to be struggling with the effects of the general recession in the industry, despite active cost-cutting strategies.
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