The South Korean steel producer POSCO has announced plans for the month of July to cut stainless steel output and also to increase its prices for several products for domestic deliveries.
Accordingly, POSCO will cut its stainless steel output by 25,000 mt in July, justifying this move by citing the huge level of inventory it has built up due to low purchasing activities as buyers in the domestic market wait for prices to go down. POSCO produces around 150,000-160,000 mt of stainless steel per month.
On the other hand, POSCO has also announced a price rise for several products for domestic deliveries in July. The price of POSCO's HRC will rise Won 150,000/mt ($145/mt) to Won 850,000 mt ($823/mt), the price for CRC will increase Won 165,000/mt ($160/mt) to Won 950,000/mt ($919/mt) and the price of shipbuilding plate will go up Won 135,000/mt ($131/mt) to Won 920,000/mt ($890/mt), all effective as of July 1.
POSCO stated that the price increases come in response to the rise in raw material prices.