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Enhanced global steel trade monitoring
Steel Imports Report: South Korea
Background
South Korea was the world’s seventh-largest steel importer 2018. In year-to-date 2019 (through June), South Korea imported 8.8 million metric tons of steel, a 15 percent increase from 7.6 million metric tons in YTD 2018. South Korea’s imports represented 5 percent of all steel imported globally in 2017. South Korea’s 2017 steel imports were a bit more than half the size of the largest steel importer, the United States. In value terms, steel represented just 2.3 percent of the total amount of goods imported into South Korea in 2018.
South Korea imports steel from over 70 countries and territories. The ten countries highlighted in the map below represent the top import sources for South Korea’s imports of steel, with each sending more than 45 thousand metric tons and cumulatively accounting for 97 percent of South Korea’s steel imports in 2018.
Prior to 2009, South Korea had a trade deficit in steel products. Imports fell in 2009, bringing steel exports and imports into balance. Between Q2 2009 and Q2 2019, South Korea’s annual exports increased 41 percent from 5.2 million metric tons to 7.3 million metric tons. Exports significantly outpacing imports during this period, as imports increased by only 4 percent from 4.18 million metric tons in Q2 2009 to 4.4 million metric tons in Q2 2019. South Korea has posted a steel trade surplus since Q3 2010. This surplus amounted to 6.1 million metric tons in YTD 2019, a 21 percent decrease from 7.7 million metric tons in YTD 2018.
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