South Korea's Steel product imports fall 10.2% Y-o-Y in May: KOSA

SEOUL (Scrap Monster): South Korea's steel products imports declined 10.2% year-on-year to 3,124,382 metric tons (mt) in May and advanced 1.6% month-on-month, as per the latest data released by the Korea Iron & Steel Association (KOSA).

According to KOSA , inbound shipments of steel products from Asian countries totaled 2,430,544 mt in May, a rise of 2.7% year-on-year, accounting for about 80% of the country's total imports of steel products during the month.

In May, China was the largest foreign supplier of steel products for South Korea, with 1,134,293 mt, down 4.1% year-on-year.

Imports of steel products from North America plunged 35.5% year-on-year to 312,429 mt in May. Aggregate steel product imports into South Korean in the January-May period amounted to 14,925,618 mt, down 5.4% from the same period in 2011.

In May, South Korea's exports of steel products reached 2,803,308 mt, up 16.8% year-on-year. Outbound shipments to Asian countries rose by 17.7 % year-on-year to 2,024,746 mt, accounting for 72% of total steel product exports for the month.

Overseas shipments bound for North America increased by 14.4% year-on-year to 358,974 mt. In May, South Korea sold 398,788 mt of steel products to China, up 5.1%, and 36,249 mt to Japan, down 3.6%, both year-on-year.

Accumulated exports of steel products from South Korea in the first five months this year reached 13,600,342 mt, up 15.1% year-on-year.