South Korea’s total cold rolled (CR) steel sheets exports in January-July increased 9.2 percent to 1,883,558 mt compared with the same period last year, while its CR sheet imports for the first seven months of the year decreased 4.2 percent from a year ago to 528,577 mt, according to data from the Korea Iron & Steel Association (KOSA) .
Thus, South Korea’s international trade of cold rolled steel sheet posted a surplus in the January-July period, indicating weak demand for the products in question in the domestic market. In an attempt to make up for the drop in domestic sales, domestic cold rolled steel sheet producers significantly increased their overseas sales during the given period.
Meanwhile, despite the decreasing import volume, cold rolled steel sheet imports exerted a considerable impact on the domestic market.