Dongkuk Steel Mill News

According to a Reuters report, South Korea's third-largest steelmaker, Dongkuk Steel Mill, said on Dec. 1 it would cut prices of rebar by 11 percent to bring prices of its construction steel in line with that made by a rival. Its local peer Hyundai Steel said on Nov. 28 it would cut prices of rebar by 11 percent, its second price cut in a month, due to weakening demand from the construction sector and falling prices of raw materials such as scrap metal. (Source: Reuters)

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, one of 's "big three" takeover targets, has been put up for sale. The other two prime takeover targets are Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hynix Semiconductor, Chosun reported. The Korea Development Bank said it has begun searching for a manager to sell Daewoo Shipbuilding with an aim to select a preferred bidder by August. After Daewoo Group was dismantled in 1999, the shipbuilding business was managed by creditors. The business graduated from its debt workout program in 2001 and has since been managed by the KDB and the Korea Asset Management Corp., which hold a combined stake 50.4 percent. KDB holds 31.3 percent and KAMCO 19.1 percent.

Samsung Heavy Industries said that orders this year for its vessels and offshore platforms may fall as much as 21 percent as demand weakens from three consecutive years of records, Bloomberg reported. New contracts may drop to between $10 billion and $12 billion from an all- time high of $12.6 billion last year, reports indicated. Even the low end would be the second- highest level of new business in the company's history. Samsung Heavy and other yards in South Korea, home to the world's largest shipyards, took almost half of the orders last year in the world's $100 billion ship industry, as increased demand for fuel and global trade prompted shipowners to expand their fleets. Backlogs are at their highest ever, representing more than three years of work for the South Korean shipbuilders.