Steel Output to Exceed 50 Mil. Tons This Year
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
South Korea’s annual production of crude steel is expected to exceed 50 million tons this year, according to an organization of steel makers on Friday.
Officials from the Korean Iron & Steel Association (KOSA) said that some 17 million tons of crude steel was produced from January to April this year, up 9.6 percent from the same period last year.
Since the total production reached the 10-million-ton mark for the first time in 1981, it had drawn a steeply rising curve until the late 1990s to top 20 million tons in 1989, 30 million tons in 1993 and 40 million tons in 1997.
But the yearly production somewhat shrank after the 1997 financial crisis hit Asia as worldwide demand for steel stagnated. Steel makers saw a rebound from 2003 with an increase in demand, boosted by China’s rapid economic growth.
``We expect annual production to reach 50 million tons for the first time in our history if the latest trend continues throughout the year,’’ a KOSA official said. ``We would maintain our status as one of the world’s top five steel-making countries following China, Japan, the United States and Russia.’’
He forecast that the world production of crude steel would surpass 1.3 billion tons this year, citing China’s double-digit growth and rising production around the globe, except for the North American region.
Industry sources said that the total demand for steel materials in the country would also exceed 70 million tons this year thanks to an increase in exports and domestic consumption.
The steel industry accounted for about 2.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and some 5.6 percent of the country’s total exports last year.
``We have a relatively short history in the steel industry when compared with that of other advanced countries. But we are creating things from nothing through constant efforts,’’ KOSA Vice Chairman Shim Yoon-soo said. ``Now is the time to acquire our own core technologies for a second leap forward.’’
In the meantime, the country’s steel makers celebrated ``Steel Day’’ in a ceremony at the POSCO Center in southern Seoul in the evening with some 300 dignitaries in attendance.
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Kim Young-ju, POSCO CEO and KOSA Chairman Lee Ku-taek and CEOs of other major steel makers attended the event.