Corus left shoulder or the foothills?

POSCO to Cut Steel Prices Next Year

SEOUL (Yonhap) _ South Korean steel maker POSCO said Tuesday it will cut domestic prices for its steel products next year to fend off a surge in imports of cheaper Chinese steel goods.
Starting next year, the domestic price of POSCO's steel products will be lowered by as much as 17 percent, the company said. POSCO sells about 75 percent of its output at home.

POSCO will lower the price of high-end hot-rolled steel coil, used in cars manufacturing, to 500,000 won ($492) a ton, from the current 550,000 won, the company said.

Prices per ton will be lowered to 480,000 won from 550,000 won for ordinary hot-rolled coil and 450,000 won from 535,000 won for ``minimill’’ hot-rolled coil, POSCO said.

As for cold-rolled coil, prices per ton will be cut to 600,000 won for high-end products and to 580,000 won for ordinary products, the company said.

The price cut is a result of POSCO's strategy to defend the domestic market from ``indiscriminate exports of Chinese steel makers,’’ the company said.

For the first 10 months of this year, China's steel exports to South Korea jumped 79.1 percent from a year earlier to 5.76 million tons. In contrast, South Korea's steel exports to China fell 5.2 percent to 3.96 million tons during the same period, POSCO said.

This year, POSCO cut prices of its stainless steel products for the second time.

In a recent meeting with affiliate companies, POSCO's chief executive, Lee Koo-taek, warned that the company may experience ``unprecedented hardship’’ next year as a result of overproduction by Chinese rivals.

12-20-2005 16:12