South Korea's crude steel production posted its largest-ever quarterly volume in the January-March period this year.
According to the Korea Iron and Steel Association (KOSA), South Korea's first quarter production of crude steel surged 21.1 percent from a year ago to 16.56 million mt. Output in the last quarter of 2010 had also constituted a quarterly all-time high.
"Hyundai Steel's full-scale operation of two units of blast furnaces, which were started up last year, is analyzed to have lifted the nation's first quarter crude steel production to the highest-ever level," said an official at KOSA.
Meanwhile, the KOSA forecast in December last year that South Korean annual crude steel production would hit a record high of 64.31 million mt this year, with 39.65 million mt to be produced by blast furnaces and 24.66 million mt by electric arc furnaces, boosted by Hyundai Steel's operation of its No. 2 blast furnace and POSCO's startup of a new steelmaking plant.