The big three South Korean producers of cold heading quality (CHQ)
wire, namely, SeAH Special Steel, Dongbu Special Steel and Dongbang Steel, have expanded their capacities and are becoming increasingly competitive in the domestic market, putting the small players into difficulty.
SeAH Special Steel's annual steel
production capacity has increased to 300,000 mt this year. Dongbu Special Steel's annual output capacity has risen to 180,000 mt and will rise further to 260,000 mt in March next year with the commissioning of three additional bell-type hydrogen furnaces, while Dongbang Steel has increased its annual steel
production capacity of 190,000 mt. Accordingly, the big three will have an aggregate annual steel output capacity of over 750,000 mt next year.
Meanwhile, the domestic fastener industry, which is a major user of CHQ wires, is changing its purchasing practice as CHQ
wire prices have gone up. The big producers of fasteners supplying the
automotive sector now prefer to buy CHQ
wire from SeAH Special Steel and Dongbu Special Steel, as these companies can supply in large quantities. The main South Korean fastener producers have also increased their own
production capacities and are also for this reason focusing on bulk supplies from the main domestic producers of CHQ
wire.