South Korea's seven major special steel bar producers, including SeAH Besteel, POSCO Specialty Steel and Hyundai Steel, posted aggregate sales of 642,598 metric tons of special steel bar in the first quarter, up 1.5 percent year on year, according to a survey by the Korea Metal Journal.
In the domestic market, the South Korean producers' sales to end-users edged up 0.7 percent from a year ago in the first quarter. However, their sales to distributors in the local market in the same quarter slid 2.8 percent year on year, mirroring the unfavorable market conditions. Demand for special steel bars in all consuming sectors except the automotive sector was quite week in South Korea in the January-March quarter. Experts are forecasting that domestic demand for special steel bars will make a recovery in the second quarter.
As regards the overseas market, export sales volumes of domestic production special steel bars increased year on year in the first quarter. However, South Korean producers of special steel bars were pressed by overseas buyers to lower their export prices.