South Korea's imports of Chinese steel products dropped in April compared with the same month last year.
According to the data from the Korea Iron and Steel Association (KOSA), in April this year South Korea imported 1,118,654 metric tons of steel products from China, down 13.1 percent year on year. Aggregate inbound shipments of Chinese steel products in the January-April period edged down 0.1 percent year on year to 4,174,654 metric tons.
The main reasons for such a fall in South Korean imports of Chinese steel products in April include local steelworks' reduction of their steel product selling prices in an attempt to counteract the large inflow of low-priced foreign steel products into the domestic market, and also the slow business recovery of major consuming industries.
In contrast, South Korea's exports of steel products to China increased by three percent year on year to 374,000 metric tons in April. However, in the first four months South Korea's steel product exports to China were down 6.8 percent year on year to 1,152,308 metric tons.
Meanwhile, South Korea's imports of steel products from the US in April dropped 25.1 percent year on year to 282,706 metric tons. It is noteworthy that steel product imports from Mexico surged by 81.1 percent year on year in April.