The U.S. Donald Trump administration has announced that additional tariffs on steel and aluminum products are imminent, and Sangsangin Investment & Securities evaluated on the 2nd that there will inevitably be some impact on the domestic steel industry.
On the 30th of last month (local time), President Trump announced that tariffs on steel and aluminum products would be raised from the existing 25% to 50%. Researcher Kim Jin-beom of Sangsangin Investment & Securities explained, "Various products such as stainless steel sinks, gas ranges, and steel girders are also expected to be subject to tariffs, which are planned to take effect from the 4th."
From the perspective of the Korean steel industry, the key question is whether the additional tariffs can be passed on to local sales prices. When the 25% tariff on steel products was fully implemented in March, the prices of hot-rolled products and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) rose by 46.6% and 33.3%, respectively, compared to the beginning of the year.
The problem is that concerns about an economic recession have made it difficult to support local steel demand. The prices of steel products have shown a slight downward trend since April.
Researcher Kim noted, "Considering the economic uncertainty, it may be relatively limited to pass the additional tariff increase onto prices," adding, "It seems that small and medium-sized companies with a significant export share to the U.S. will be relatively more affected." He continued, "Some items, such as OCTG, which have a high dependency on U.S. imports, may see further price increases."