Hyundai makes second steel price cut in 1 month

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Nov 2008

South Korea's Hyundai Steel said on Friday it would cut steel prices by 11 percent, its second price cut in a month, due to weakening demand from the construction sector and falling prices of raw materials such as scrap metal. Hyundai, the country's second-biggest steel firm after POSCO, plans to cut prices of rebar, widely used in construction, by 11 percent to 821,000 won ($564.3) per tonne from Dec. 1 and will also cut prices of H-beam by 11 percent to 970,000 won. "The move is to reflect decreasing steel demand as a result of the global economic crisis, but we see little possibility of further reduction, as the won has weakened (raising raw material import costs) and a series of global economic support measures are being announced," it said in a statement. Hyundai previously cut steel prices from Nov. 1, its first price reduction in nearly three years. A growing number of steelmills are reducing production and cutting prices to cope with tumbling demand from sectors such as autos, construction and electronics. Taiwan's top steelmaker, China Steel announced this week that it was cutting steel prices and production, while China's Baosteel cut steel prices for January by 17 percent just one week after it announced a further decrease in December prices.

Source: Reuters