Steel scrap consumption in South Korea will fall by 5-10 percent in 2019 due to lower EAF-based steel production starting from the beginning of the year and the still negative outlook for the fourth quarter.
In the January-August period this year, EAF-based steel production in the country lost 4.9 percent to 15.4 million mt, while BOF-based output increased by 2.8 percent during the same period to 33 million mt. As a result, the market has already seen lower imports of steel scrap in South Korea and the situation will only worsen in the coming months.
As major domestic mills like Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel have already partly booked for December and January, import requirements will be limited up to the end of the year. “We expected production cuts as demand is too weak,” a Japanese trader said. Hyundai Steel workers are going on strike in the middle of October, according to local sources, which will also lead to lower output.
