Posted on 02 Dec 2022
Exports of Japanese ordinary and speciality steel to South Korea in October jumped by 41.6% from September to reach 484,009 tonnes, according to the new data from Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF). The on-month leap compares with the tiny 1.1% on-year increase, and coincides with the disruptions Korean steel producers and steel users were suffering in the wake of Typhoon Hinnamnor in early September.
The typhoon soaked much of South Korea, especially the country's southeast corner where POSCO was forced to halt all operations at its Pohang works and, even now, is yet to bring all flooded facilities back online, as Mysteel Global reported. Mini-mills and the country's other integrated steelmaker, Hyundai Steel, also suffered damage and disruptions, prompting users to seek steel from abroad.
Exports of hot-rolled coils (HRCs) from Japan to Korea doubled to 182,535 tonnes in October, though contributing to this jump in shipments was also the fact that a strike at Hyundai Steel's Dangjin works on the west coast of South Korea had halted operations on the works' hot strip mill.
Japan's total exports of all types of steel in October recorded 2,479,163 tonnes, down 10.9% year on year and decreasing for the fourth consecutive month, the JISF noted.
By major product type, sales of HRCs fell 2.4% on year to 814,946 tonnes, the fourth consecutive monthly decline, while those of galvanized steel sheets reached 162,600 tonnes, lower by a large 27.7% from October last year and falling for the 10th consecutive month, the JISF said.
Among the major customers for Japanese steelmakers, steel exports to China – Japan's third-largest steel buyer after Thailand – declined 3.1% on month and 28% on year respectively to 291,435 tonnes in October, reflecting the fact that Chinese demand during the month was weak and prices largely unattractive to Japanese exporters. Exports there were lower for the eighth consecutive month, the JISF noted.
Exports to Thailand also suffered during October, falling by 10.2% on month and 29% on year to 333,837 tonnes, the JISF data showed. However, one-third of the total shipments consisted of HRCs – 117,532 tonnes – where the tonnage fell by 11.5% from September and by a huge 30.5% from October last year.
Almost all of these HRCs are destined for Japanese-invested cold-rolling and coated sheet ventures in Thailand, Mysteel Global noted, supplying automotive sheets to Japanese car plants and home appliance manufacturers in Thailand.
The Federation of Thai Industries last week heralded the fact that the country's automobile output in October jumped by 10.3% from a year earlier to 170,717 units, saying that manufacturers had benefited from the easing of the semi-conductor shortage.
Though this suggests that Nippon Steel and JFE Steel can expect to see a parallel climb in shipments from their local downstream coil plants to the carmakers, the plunge in HRC exports from Japan indicates that companies such as JFE Steel Galvanizing (Thailand) – the 400,000 tonnes/year plant making hot-dipped galvanized and galvannealed steel in Rayong on Thailand's eastern board – have storage sheds full of finished steel they need to clear first, before resuming imports of substrate coils from their parent plants in Japan.
Source:Mysteel Global
