South Korean steelmaker Hyundai Steel has posted a net profit of KRW 26 billion ($22.03 million) for 2019, decreasing from KRW 408 billion in 2018, while its operating profit in 2019 totaled KRW 331.3 billion ($280 million), down 67.7 percent year on year. The company said that in the given period overseas profitability worsened mainly due to the slowdown in Chinese auto steel demand. The decline in its operating profit was attributed to the difficulty in reflecting increases in the price of products such as automotive steel plate and shipbuilding plate, although iron ore prices rose rapidly to $120/mt in 2019.
In 2019, Hyundai Steel’s steel production amounted to 21.22 million mt, decreasing by 1.2 percent, while its steel sales volume totaled 21.32 million mt, down by two percent, both year on year. The company’s sales volume is expected to amount to 21.38 million mt in 2020, while it aims to increase its global sales of automotive steel to 1 million mt next year.
Hyundai Steel also aims to meet global demand by investing in new facilities in the coming period. The company plans to make a new investment of KRW 120 billion ($101.81 million) until 2021 to modernize its cold rolling facility with the purpose of increasing competitiveness of automobile materials and will build a hot stamping factory in Ostrava, Czech Republic, to begin mass production in January 2021.