SHI raises medium plate import from China
South Korean Samsung Heavy Industry (SHI) recently signed a contract with
China's
Baosteel to double its medium
plate import from
China.
SHI will reportedly start to purchase medium
plate from
Baosteel in November 2005. The contract with
Baosteel means that
China will account for 6-8 percent of SHI's total medium
plate consumption. Anshan Steel, the sole medium
plate supplier to SHI prior to the deal with
Baosteel, supplies about 4-5 percent of SHI's medium
plate consumption.
SHI currently imports 50 percent of its medium
plate from
Japan, with 45 percent coming from domestic steelmakers like POSCO and Dongkuk Steel.
A spokesman from SHI expressed that the company decided to purchase more medium
plate from
China since
China's products have been much cheaper than domestic medium
plate.
Furthermore, since the market price of medium
plate from
Japan has been higher than that of South Korean
plate, SHI will reduce its imports from
Japan while upping its imports from
China.