For the third quarter sales of its high grade products, the South Korean giant steelmaker POSCO is reported to be handling the negotiations for exports to
China and
Southeast Asia with utmost attention. It is very important for the company to keep the high grade steel products market stable, to control the quantity of exports and to prevent the prices in these markets from falling.
Among the factors POSCO takes into consideration are the SARS disease risk in
China as well as the dropping of steel prices, a large stock increase coming from the third countries which are those other than
Japan,
Korea, and
Taiwan to
Southeast Asia, and a weak demand caused by uncertainties of economy.
POSCO's policy has received approval from the Iron & Steel Institute of
Japan. It is anticipated that if such action could be implemented, steel prices in
Southeast Asia might stop dropping further and might begin to rebound from October onwards. In addition to POSCO's strategy, the contribution of Taiwanese
China Steel Corp. by refusing to reduce prices of steel exports to
China mainland and
southeast Asia in the third quarter, would enhance the effectiveness of the situation.