CONF: South Korean scrap's 'darkest hour'

Statistics for South Korea's ferrous scrap sector show a rapid rise in domestic scrap self-sufficiency, declining scrap imports (and even some exports) and scrap stocks at a historic low -- all pointers to a maturing industry with potential for growth. But to Soo Hee Kim, CEO of Hanshin S.&, a large scrap dealer based in Incheon, the industrial city northwest of Seoul, the numbers paint a more worrying picture.

"The rise in Korea's scrap self-sufficiency ratio should not be seen as a strength," she told delegates attending Mysteel's 15th Asia Steel Forum and International Metal Recycling Conference in Tokyo on September 25. "Self-sufficiency of 95% is ... a number created by production cuts. A collapse in demand made