According to the Korea Iron and Steel Association, from January to May, the total amount of slabs imported from South Korea decreased by 11.2% to 255,694 tons. From the source of imports, Japan is the only source of growth in Korean billet imports. Japan's steel billets exported to South Korea rose 22% year-on-year to 175,252 tons, while other countries saw a year-on-year decline.

It is worth mentioning that the number of steel billets imported from South Korea has dropped significantly, down 99.4%, from a sharp decline of 357 tons to 221 tons a year ago. The main reason for the sharp decline was the rise in China's export billet prices and the rise in domestic steel prices in China. In the first half of this year, the price of billet in China remained at 3,300 yuan / ton to 3,700 yuan / ton, which is very close to the price of direct domestic distribution channels in Korea.

In addition, South Korea's imports of steel billets from Taiwan have decreased by 41.1% to 39,489 tons. Imported slabs from Iran, 15,131 tons, and imported steel slabs from Russia, 25,521 tons.

Korean steel industry experts believe that although imports of steel billets from Japan have increased, imports from mainland China, Russia and Taiwan have decreased, and many Korean companies are experiencing shortages of raw materials and will increasingly rely on billets imported from Japan.