The Korea Iron and Steel Association forecasts that the amount of steel produced in the country next year will reach a record high 70 million metric tons.
Quoted by a release of South Korean steelmaker POSCO, in a recent report on market changes and steel supply and demand for 2011, KOSA said it expects the country's steel production will increase by 5.8 percent in the coming year from this year's estimated output of 65.35 million tons.
According to the report, the increased production will be mostly based on rising demand in every steel-consuming sector apart from the construction industry, and on improved productivity from new facilities, pushing the amount of steel consumed in the country to 53.92 million metric tons for the year.
KOSA said that the amount of steel to be exported will grow by 4.4 percent to 25.8 million metric tons, despite a sputtering global economy, boosted by rapid growth in emerging economies including India, as well as the expansion of the industry's overseas supply chain. The country's steel imports in 2011 are expected to decrease by 11.9 percent from this year's estimates, to 22.02 million tons. The decrease will be due mainly to an increase in steel supply from local steelmakers.
Meanwhile, 2011 crude steel production is expected to reach 64.31 million metric tons, with an 11 percent year-on-year increase from this year's estimates. It will be the first time the figure reaches 60 million metric tons, four years after it surpassed 50 million metric tons in 2007.
KOSA also projected that the amount of crude steel produced by blast furnaces will rise by 17.7 percent to 39.65 million metric tons, as both POSCO and Hyundai Steel recently launched new equipment. Electric arc furnaces, on the other hand, will produce about 24.66 million metric tons of crude steel in 2011, up 1.7 percent from this year estimates.