Korean steel demand will remain weak during the second half of 2012

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently predicted that due to the stagnant demand from the shipbuilding industry and the construction industry in the key steel industry, the South Korean steel industry may not see significant improvement in the second half of this year.

South Korea's Ministry of Knowledge and Economics announced that from January to May this year, South Korea's export orders for the shipbuilding industry totaled US$21.2 billion. In the second half of the year, Korean ship export orders will drop by 28% year-on-year. Among them, European customers place very few orders, and some customers who have already placed orders have even asked to postpone or cancel orders. If the European debt crisis spreads for a long time, it will be difficult for the shipbuilding industry to recover.

However, the automotive industry remains relatively strong. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, from January to June, Korean auto exports increased by 10.4% year-on-year to 1.7 million vehicles, and vehicle production increased by 3.4% year-on-year to 2.38 million vehicles. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry predicts that the growth rate of the auto industry in the second half of this year will be slightly lower than that in the first half of the year, but auto exports will still reach 1.6 million.