Dongkuk Steel shutting down plate mill on oversupplied market

Dongkuk Steel will shut down one of its two plate mills to cope with an oversupplied domestic market, it announced late on Thursday June 25.

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

Its No 2 plate mill, which can produce plate at a rate of up to 1.9 million tpy at its Pohang works in South Korea’s south-eastern region, will be closed on August 1 this year for an indefinite period, the steelmaker announced in a filing with the Korea Exchange (KRX).

The move will see Dongkuk produce plate at just its 1.5-million-tpy facility in Dangjin city, in South Chungcheong province in the western part of the country.

It made known its plans to shut down the No 2 plate mill early last month.

“Capacity reduction is inevitable, [but] taking the [current] output [volume] into account, the total annual output will not be greatly affected if production is concentrated on the Dangjin plant,” the company noted.

Dongkuk, South Korea’s third-largest steelmaker, has been suffering for the past few years amid an oversupply of plates and shrinking demand from the shipbuilding and construction industries, the main buyers of its products.

It has seen its plate shipments steadily fall over the years, from 3.48 million tonnes in 2010 to 1.72 million tonnes in 2014.

Concentrating its output in Dangjin will allow Dongkuk to increase its capacity utilisation at the mill, raising production efficiency and profitability, it said.

What to read next
Fastmarkets will discontinue its consumer buying assessment for steel scrap rail crops 2ft max, delivered mill Chicago, effective July 1 amid a sustained lack of liquidity for that grade in that market.
Fastmarkets has, in line with our annual methodology review process, concluded a consultation that opened on May 4, 2023, inviting feedback on our methodology for our US Midwest ferrous scrap indices.
Fastmarkets is proposing to reinstate one quarterly US titanium price based on market feedback and is reopening a consultation for four other US titanium prices that were discontinued.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey (MB-STE-0416), and its index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US origin, cfr Turkey (MB-STE-0417), via an open consultation process between May 4 and June 5, 2023.
Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for pig iron import, cfr Gulf of Mexico, US, $/tonne (MB-IRO-0004), via an open consultation process between May 4 and June 5, 2023.
In contrast to the apparent widespread belief that war would lead to a surge in scrap collections in Ukraine, volumes actually fell in 2022 and are likely to fall again in 2023, according to the head of Ukranian commodities think-tank, GMK Center
We use cookies to provide a personalized site experience.
By continuing to use & browse the site you agree to our Privacy Policy.
Proceed