Seoul Shares Touch 3-week Low as China Worries Persist
Seoul shares fell in early domestic trade Wednesday, touching a near-three week low as persisting worries about China's economic growth outlook cut appetites for riskier assets. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was down 1.2 percent at 1,939.86 points as of 0215 GMT. The index earlier traded as low as 1,938.60, its weakest level since Feb. 20. A sharper-than-expected slowdown in China would likely hurt earnings of major local manufacturers, as the world's second-largest economy is South Korea's biggest exports market. "Investors have yet to shake their concerns about corporate debt default and shadow banking" in China, said E-Trade Investment analyst Choi Kwang-hyeok.
Hyundai Steel's Q1 Net Rises Nearly Five-Fold
According to an Apr 27 report from TradingMarkets.com, Hyundai Steel Co. (KSE;004020), South Korea's No. 2 steelmaker, said its net profit rose nearly five-fold in the first quarter from a year ago thanks to increased sales. The company earned $222.2m in the three months to March, compared with 51.5 billion won a year ago (Source: TradingMarkets.com)
Shipbuilders Struggle Over Steel
Shipbuilders and Japanese steelmakers are struggling to hammer out the differences on steel plate prices as the sellers insist on a 17 percent raise to $680 per metric ton. Korean shipbuilders including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. are demanding a price cut from the current $580 to $480 per metric ton for the six months from October. "The talks (on price settlement) could go on until early October," said an official from the Korea Shipbuilders' Association. Steelmakers are pushing to lift prices in the face of rising material costs. Prices of iron ore, the key material for steel, continued to climb 17 percent this year, after jumping 71.5 percent in 2005 as a result of oligopoly trading by global iron ore miners and burgeoning demand from China.
