This year hot rolled and cold rolled stainless steel demand appears to be on the rise in South Korea.
According to the outlook for H2 steel demand released by the Korea Iron and Steel Association, hot rolled stainless sheet demand in H2 in South Korea is expected to be 1.09 million mt, 3.4 percent more than in the same period of last year.
When H1 demand of 1.13 million mt is added, annual hot rolled stainless steel sheet demand in South Korea will be 2.22 million mt, up 5.1 percent year on year.
South Korean hot rolled stainless steel output in H2 is forecast at 890,000 mt, up 4.8 percent year on year, causing annual output to reach 1.79 million mt, up 6.4 percent year on year.
South Korea's HR stainless sheet imports in H1 totaled 230,000 mt and H2 imports are forecast to decrease to 200,000 mt, resulting in year-on-year growth of 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, South Korea's CR stainless sheet demand is expected to perform better than domestic HR stainless demand, while CR stainless steel sheet exports will also affect HR stainless steel sheet demand.
H2 CR stainless sheet demand is forecast to reach 700,000 mt, up 2.9 percent year on year. Consequently, annual total demand is forecast to rise by 3.1 percent year on year to 1,385,000 mt. South Korea's CR stainless sheet exports in H2 are forecast to rise by 11.6 percent year on year to 564,000 mt.