In March this year, sales of South Korean domestic production hot rolled coil (HRC) neared an all-time high, increasing both at home and abroad. South Korean HRC production came close to 3 million metric tons in the given month.
According to data from the Korea Iron and Steel Association, South Korea produced 2,966,000 metric tons of HRC in March, up 24.4 percent month on month and rising four percent year on year. In March, sales of domestic production HRC totaled 1,622,000 metric tons, up 21.2 percent month on month and up 3.8 percent year on year, with 1,126,000 metric tons sold at home and 495,000 metric tons sold abroad.
Analysts said that a base effect from the lower number of working days of February, a slight rise year on year in speculative demand for products and a recovery of consumers' buying interest amid the arrival of a seasonal high-demand period boosted March production and sales of HRC.
It is noteworthy that in March sales of HRC hit a record monthly high for the domestic market. Since local HRC producers concentrated their efforts in March on promoting sales at home rather than overseas, the increase rate in their export sales was relatively low.