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Who buys South Korea’s steel? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, South Korea exported $22.6 billion of steel (25 million tonnes), 6.5% of the world total. Its main destinations were Japan (13%), India (11%) and the United States (8%). South Korea was the world’s 4th-largest exporter of steel.

Summary

Value
$22.6billion
Tonnes
25million tonnes
Share of world total
6.5%
World rank
4th
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
Japan2.9Tonnes: 3,510,133USD per tonne: $82312.8%Sea
India2.5Tonnes: 3,013,791USD per tonne: $81610.9%Sea
United States1.9Tonnes: 1,582,668USD per tonne: $1,1938.4%Sea
China1.8Tonnes: 1,934,743USD per tonne: $9418.1%Sea
Turkey1.4Tonnes: 1,604,330USD per tonne: $8746.2%Sea
Mexico1.4Tonnes: 1,799,370USD per tonne: $7676.1%Sea
Thailand1.2Tonnes: 1,363,904USD per tonne: $9055.5%Sea
Vietnam1.2Tonnes: 1,403,921USD per tonne: $8605.4%Sea
Italy0.87Tonnes: 1,008,383USD per tonne: $8613.9%Sea
Indonesia0.81Tonnes: 874,858USD per tonne: $9243.6%Sea
Taiwan0.58Tonnes: 664,125USD per tonne: $8792.6%Sea
Malaysia0.58Tonnes: 647,590USD per tonne: $9002.6%Sea
Canada0.48Tonnes: 525,902USD per tonne: $9202.1%Sea
Spain0.44Tonnes: 470,142USD per tonne: $9462%Sea
United Kingdom0.34Tonnes: 391,891USD per tonne: $8591.5%Sea
Poland0.31Tonnes: 250,225USD per tonne: $1,2251.4%Sea
Brazil0.26Tonnes: 216,747USD per tonne: $1,1791.1%Sea
Australia0.25Tonnes: 289,547USD per tonne: $8571.1%Sea
Belgium re-exports0.24Tonnes: 400,185USD per tonne: $6011.1%Sea
Germany0.21Tonnes: 145,828USD per tonne: $1,4510.94%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

Japan has been its main destination since 2023

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • Japan 2.9
  • India 2.5
  • United States 1.9
  • China 1.8
  • Turkey 1.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
Japan1.52.9
India0.072.5
United States0.461.9
China0.711.8
Turkey0.021.4

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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