Dongkuk Steel to Build New Plate Mill in Dangjin

Dongkuk Steel Mill of South Korea said on Tuesday the firm decided to build new plate mill in Dangjin. The firm continues the study when and how much to produce. The plate maker with 2.6 million tonnes of annual output capacity could exceed the nations’ largest plate maker of POSCO, which will expand the capacity to 3.6 million tonnes. A local source said Dongkuk Steel eyes annual 1.5 million tonnes of new plate mill. The firm will start the integrated steel plant in Brazil in 2009 to make slab. The firm apparently procures the slab for the new plate mill with some outsourced slab. South Korean plate demand is annual 5.2 million tonnes for shipbuilding. The country imports around 2 million tonnes of shipbuilding grade plate while POSCO and Dongkuk Steel supply more than 3 million tonnes for the industry. Hyundai INI Steel considers building new plate mill with 1.5 million tonnes of capacity in the ongoing integrated steel plant project. The country could supply with the domestic source for the total plate demand after the new plate mills and expansion though the country imported 2.9 million tonnes of plate in 2005.