Dongkuk Steel Cuts Ship-Plate Price 21% on Economy

Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., South Korea’s third-largest steelmaker, said it slashed ship-plate price by 21 percent, the second reduction this year, to help customers suffering from the global economic recession. The price dropped by 240,000 won ($153) a metric ton to 920,000 won a ton, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. The mill, which gets more than half its sales from selling plates, reduced the price by as much as 18 percent in January.
“The company actually brought forward the price-cut timing for about a month than originally planned and expanded the degree of reduction to help ease the cost burden on end-users and share in the economic hardship,” the statement said.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipbuilder, last week said orders dropped 54 percent in January as the recession reduced demand. Dongkuk accounts for almost 30 percent of ship-plate needs of South Korea, the biggest shipbuilding nation.
Dongkuk Steel lost 5.4 percent to 20,250 won in Seoul today, worse than a 3.7 percent fall in the benchmark stock index Kospi.