South Korean small steel plant plagued by higher electrode prices

    Since last summer, the domestic electrode prices in SouthKorea have increased tenfold year-on-year, which has caused severe impact onKorean electric arc furnace steelmaking plants.

    According to analysis by South Korean experts, the mainreason for the increase in electrode prices is a serious shortage of electrodesupply in China. In the near future, it is expected that the electrode priceswill continue to rise, and the cost burden of Korean electric arc furnacesteelmaking plants will further increase.

    As small domestic steel mills in South Korea are verysensitive to the rise in electrode prices, they have begun to tide over thecurrent crisis through re-exports of third countries from Japan, India andEurope. According to reports, the average price of Chinese electrodesentering the Korean market was approximately US$14,500 per ton in April, whilethe average import prices of electrodes in countries such as Japan, India andEurope were US$8,609/ton, US$6,238/ton and 1.11 million US dollars / ton.