South Korea’s steel imports from China at 7-year high

South Korea’s imports of steel products from China climbed to their highest level in seven years despite a decrease in its total steel imports, indicating China’s growing dominance in the domestic steel industry.

According to the Korea Iron & Steel Association, Korea imported 8.77 million tons of Chinese steel products in 2024, the largest shipment volume from China for a single year since 2017, when 11.53 million tons were imported.

Overall, the country’s steel imports contracted 5.4% to 14.69 million tons in 2024 from the year prior amid a slowing economy.

Imports from Japan dwindled 15.7% on-year to 4.72 million tons last year.

Industry officials said Chinese steelmakers dumped their products on Korea at prices 20% cheaper for thick plates and 5-10% lower for hot-rolled plates, compared with those from local companies such as POSCO Co. and Hyundai Steel Co.

Last year, Seoul launched anti-dumping investigations into Chinese and Japanese steelmakers after Korean companies filed an anti-dumping complaint against them with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

But the government appears to have few policy options to deal with the flood of steel imports, according to industry officials.

If it imposes anti-dumping duties on Japanese hot-rolled steel sheets, Tokyo could respond with counter-tariffs.

Korea shipped about 5 trillion won ($3.4 billion) worth of hot-rolled steel plates to Japan last year while importing 1.7 trillion worth of such products from Japan.

Rising raw materials prices coupled with a weakening Korean currency are adding pressure on Korean steelmakers. 

Korean steel mills expect China’s economy-boosting measures to revive steel demand there, leading to reduced steel exports to Korea.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.