SEOUL, KOREA - The share of steel rebars imported from China last year was 64 percent. According to the Korea Iron & Steel Association on January 19, as much as 300,000 tons of steel rebars were imported from China out of the total imports of 468,000 tons.

 

The percentage of Chinese rebar imports was 28 percent (170,000 tons) in 2009, but has rapidly gained since then to 43 percent (190,000 tons) in 2011 and 49 percent (250,000 tons) in 2012.

 

As to the reason for the increase, an association official said, "In the past a lot of Japanese-made rebars were imported. As the Japanese construction market began picking up since the second half of last year, the Japanese steel companies raised their prices. That's why Korean construction companies shifted their orders to Chinese suppliers." The average per-ton rebar price as of December 2013 was US$510 in China, about 24 percent cheaper than Japan's $670.

 

The total steel export volume by Chinese steel maker last year was 62.34 million tons, the second highest level in history. This is up 11.9 percent from the previous year's 55.71 million tons and almost close to the record-high level achieved in 2007 at 62.55 million tons. An industry official said, "Lately Chinese steel suppliers are increasing high value-added products such as zinc-coated steel sheets, which is something to watch closely."