Although South Korea's steel imports increased significantly in March, imports from China deceased significantly.
In March, South Korea imported 62,760 mt of rebars, up over 20,000 mt compared with 40,090 mt in February. The rise in imports was attributed to the increase in imported Japanese materials; on the other hand, rebar imports from China during the month in question only came to 4,970 mt.
Meanwhile, South Korea's imports of hot rolled products in March climbed to 362,330 mt, the highest figure so far in 2009, with 252,525 mt of imported Japanese material accounting for 69 percent of the total figure, and only 39,455 mt coming from China. Japanese products are characterized by competitive prices and grades. The average price of imported Japanese hot rolled products in March stood at $601/mt, compared with $689/mt for Chinese hot rolled.