The South Korean government is set to expand its support measures for the steel sector. This was announced by the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, Koo Yun-cheol, according to the Seoul Economic Daily.
He said that in July, the government will identify additional beneficiaries of its crisis response programme to prevent the downturn in the steel industry from spreading to the regional economy, thereby safeguarding jobs and the industrial base.
Currently, steel companies in Pohang and Gwangyang are receiving support totalling 24.7 billion Korean won (over $16 million). The government plans to select additional beneficiaries using the 7 billion won allocated in the supplementary budget.
The regions designated by the government for preventive measures to avert an industrial crisis are Pohang, Gwangyang and Dangjin. This status applies to Pohang until August 2027, to Gwangyang until November 2027, and to Dangjin until June 2028.
The government will also take measures to boost domestic demand by encouraging the use of high-quality steel materials and will support cooperation between consumers and suppliers.
Furthermore, with regard to imports of steel products, there are plans to introduce a requirement to provide information on the country where the steel was smelted, in order to prevent the circumvention of restrictions. The aim is to tighten controls on products from abroad against a backdrop of growing disputes over the influx of cheap steel products from China and other countries, as well as their re-export via third countries.
The government will allocate around 500 billion won of public funds to research and development to boost the sector’s competitiveness, including 308.8 billion won for the development of hydrogen-based steel production technology and around 200 billion won for the development of ten technologies for producing high value-added special steels.
It should be noted that the South Korean government is developing a package of measures to stimulate domestic demand for steel products and deepen cross-sectoral cooperation. This decision was taken against the backdrop of tighter import restrictions imposed by the EU.