South Korea, the sixth-biggest steel-producing nation, may lift output capacity to a record this year as Posco and mills bet demand would revive, an industry group said.
Capacity will increase 6.7 percent to 64.2 million tonnes this year from a year earlier, the Korea Iron and Steel Association said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. It may top 70 million tonnes nxt year as Hyundai Steel Co, the nation’s second — biggest producer, completes a new mill, the group said.
Posco, Korea’s biggest steelmaker, said last week it plans to boost investments by almost 50 percent to 7.3 trillion won (US$5.5 billion) this year. The South Korean investments contrast with cutbacks by rivals amid the global recession.
“Korean steelmakers are planning as much as 10 trillion won in combined investments on production this year with some large-scale spending already going on,” the association said.
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