South Korea's 2010 crude steel output to gain 25%

South Korea's 2010 crude steel output to gain 25% to 80.2 mil mt.

South Korea's crude steel production is expected to reach a record high this year on the back of increased facilities, the Korea Iron and Steel Association said.
This year's crude steel output is estimated at 80.21 million mt, up 25.0% from 2009 production of 64.17 million mt, the industry group in a report based on surveys of the country's steelmakers conducted to mark the Steel Day that falls on June 9. A total of 49.35 million mt of crude steel could be produced by blast
furnaces this year, up 46.1% from last year's 33.77 million mt, it said.
Electric arc furnaces are expected to produce 30.86 million mt, up 1.5% from last year's 30.40 million mt. 
Blast furnaces would account for 61.5% of the country's total crude steel output in 2010, up 58.3% of the country's total crude steel output in 2010, up 52.3% last year and 56.8% in 2008.
The output of hot-rolled sheets, used in cars, is expected to reach 38.81 mt this year, up 22.0% from 2008's output of 31.81 mt. The figure for 2009 was not available.
"The increased output is driven by the opening of Hyundai Steel's new
blast furnace in April with a production capacity of 4 million mt/year and
plans to open its No. 2 blast furnace in November, which has also capacity of 4 million mt/year," the association said. 
Last month, Dongkuk Steel Mill, South Korea's No. 3 steelmaker, also
started full production at its new steel mill, which can produce 1.5 million
mt/year of heavy steel plates.
The country's top steelmaker Posco plans to produce 34.5 million mt this year, up 16.9% from last year on the back of economic recovery. Its
first-quarter crude steel production jumped 32.6% year on year to 8.23 million mt.
The country's second-biggest Hyundai Steel produced 2.59 million mt of steel products in the first quarter, up from 2.11 million mt a year earlier.
It plans to produce 3.25 million mt of steel products in the second quarter, up 25.5% from the first quarter.
Earlier this year, the association said local steelmakers are expected to spend Won 6.96 trillion ($5.60 billion) in 2010 on facility upgrading, down 31% from last year. They are likely to further slash their capital investment to Won 5.84 trillion next year and Won 5.90 trillion in 2012.
The steelmakers made record capital investment last year of Won 10.1
trillion despite the global economic slowdown, compared with Won 7.1 trillion in 2008.

In a separate statement, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, whose
portfolio includes energy, commerce and industry, called for steelmakers to carry out their investment plans "without fail." 
The ministry also "urged them to come up with more measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption to meet new global environmental regulations," said the statement to mark the Steel Day.