Dongkuk ups steel price

Dongkuk Steel Mill Co, which sells 30 % of steel used by South Korea’s shipbuilders, raised the price of heavy plates by 13 % as yards face record orders for vessels. The first increase since July raises the price to 820,000 won ($870) a tonne on 11 February, a company record high.

Surging steel demand from Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and other major Korean shipyards, which received a record $187 billion of orders last year, is helping Dongkuk fatten margins as price increases outpace costs gains. Raw materials including scrap iron have surged to records. “The price increase came earlier and was a larger degree than expected,” Chung Ji Yun, an analyst with CJ Investment & Securities Co, said in Seoul. “It’s more than enough to cover costs, thus helping boost profit more than expected.”