Posted on 06 Feb 2023
South Korea has approved two Thai steel firms for its Korea Industrial Standards certification, allowing the firms' products to carry the prized KS Mark logo certifying their quality and permitting their steel to be used in government-financed public works projects, among other advantages.
The two companies are Zubb Steel, a steelmaker and re-roller based in Krathum Baen, west of Bangkok, and TY Steel in Rayong, east of the Thai capital.
Zubb Steel, formerly a construction steel trader, has a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes/year of bars, wire rod, angles, channels and beams, while TY Steel is predominantly a rebar producer boasting a capacity of 600,000 t/y. TY Steel is a joint venture between local steelmaker Tycoons Worldwide Group and Taiwanese firms Chien Shun Steel and Son Li Electric & Machinery.
The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, which oversees the certification process, awarded the firms KS Mark certification for their rebars last week, the first for this year for overseas steelmakers. Last year saw eight new KS Mark certifications awarded for rebars (double the number in 2021) of which four were foreign firms -- two Vietnamese and two Japanese, according to local industry daily, Steel & Metal News.
Last July, Vietnam's huge Hoa Phat Group joined other domestic steelmakers including VSC-POSCO Steel in being awarded the right to attach the KS Mark, as reported. So far, some 32 foreign rebar makers including Chinese makers Tangshan Guofeng Steel and Shagang Group, and Japanese makers such as Tokyo Steel Manufacturing and Osaka Steel, have been awarded the KS mark.
Japanese sources say that a Japanese mini-mill can charge about Yen 5,000/tonne ($38/t) more in the Korean market if its bars if KS certification.
South Korea's imports of rebars from Thailand last year were miniscule, but rebar exports from Vietnam to Korea rocketed to over 5,770 tonnes, compared with just 36 tonnes in 2021. The jump was attributed partly to the fact that Vietnamese rebar makers whose bars carry the KS Mark were widely sought after by Korean traders and customers, as Mysteel Global reported.
Source:Mysteel Global
