Korea's reinforcing steel bar import confirmed to nosedive last year, stating at near 500,000 tons though exceeded 1.0 million tons previously. The sharp decrease of the Chinese material led to the overall decline in the rebar imports, according to the Korea Iron and Steel Association recorded 48,923 metric tons in December last year, with a 27.1 percent month to month, but down 37 percent from a year earlier figure.
By source, import from China totaled 23,547 metric tons, from Taiwan 10,440 metric tons and from Japan 14,849 metric tons respectively. Import from Japan decreased month to month, but those arrived from China and Taiwan increased on the contrary. On the collective terms basis through December, the import quantity was 547,914 metric tons, down over 50.5 percent a year ago, of which those from China accounted for 241,620 metric tons, dropping 70.5 percent from 818,416 metric tons a year ago.
Rebar import from Japan in particular last year posted 226,553 metric tons, down 3.4 percent from 2017, while those shipped by Taiwan to Korea ballooned 51 percent totaling 78,647 metric tons respectively. The increase of import near the end of last year seems a reflection of the falling trend of the export offer prices quoted by the Chinese mills. Indeed, Chinese domestic price of rebar showed a steep decline in November last year, forcing the major rebar makers including Shagang Steel to suggest lower export bids toward Korea. Shagang Steel proposed $581 per ton, for SD400, 10mm, cfr, in November which dropped $19 per ton from October last year.
All in all, Korea’s average import price of rebar fell slightly, averaging $574 per ton in December, down $5 per ton from November. Import price from China averaged $575 per ton and from Japan $568 and from Taiwan $569 respectively. Meanwhile, Korea’s rebar export last year registered 77,055 metric tons, rising a surprise of 89.1 percent year on year growth thanks to exports destined for Singapore(23,615 metric tons) and Australia(20,331 metric tons).
Source: Steel&Metal News |
