South Korea's production of hot dip galvanized (HDG) sheets increased by 9.3 percent year on year to 2,645,400 mt in the first half of this year.
According to a recent survey carried out by Korea Metal Journal on five major local producers of HDG, their HDG sales in the first half of the year totaled 1,702,800 mt at home and 942,600 mt abroad, up 5.6 percent and 16.7 percent year on year, respectively.
In the first half of the year, the producers' HDG sales rose sharply thanks to a boom in the automotive industry. HDG sales by the producers that supply their products for use in construction works declined, but the mills that produce HDG for use in automotive steel sheets enjoyed brisk sales.
Looking at individual companies, POSCO posted a rise of 5.4 percent year on year in its first-half sales of HDG, boosted by a surge of 15.8 percent in its exports, even though its domestic sales dropped by 2.1 percent, both year on year. Hyundai Hysco, which constructed its continuous galvanizing line No. 2 at its Dangjin plant last year and another continuous galvanizing line at its Suncheon plant this year, enjoyed a strong year-on-year surge of 37.1 percent in its domestic sales and a rise of 50.6 percent in its overseas sales, lifting its entire first-half sales by 40.7 percent year on year.
In contrast, both Dongbu Steel and Union Steel suffered a contraction of their HDG sales in the first half of the year, affected by a slump in the construction industry. Dongbu Steel saw its H1 sales drop by 11.6 percent at home and 27.1 percent abroad compared to H1 last year, while Union Steel's domestic sales and overseas sales declined by 22.6 percent and 46.4 percent year on year, respectively.