Steel buyers & sellers in Korea & Japan: HRC & coated CRC duties converge, billet imports surge. Navigate the new trade landscape. Download Report.

This week, Northeast Asian steel markets reached a policy inflection point. South Korea published the draft for five-year anti-dumping duties on HRC and confirmed that provisional duties on coated cold-rolled steel will take effect within days. Simultaneously, the structural scrap shortage in Korea is driving a fundamental shift toward imported billet — a change that will outlast any price cycle. For procurement managers, the convergence of these trade barriers and raw material dynamics demands an immediate rethink of sourcing strategies. For sales managers, it opens a window to capture market share in the region’s most durable demand channels — but only for those who move before the deadlines.

This report covers the full week of May 20–27, 2026, with explicit week-on-week comparisons against May 13–20. It does not simply report the news — it maps out exactly what the new trade architecture means for every major steel product, which alternative sources remain viable, and how to position for the structural shifts that will define Northeast Asian steel trade for years.

Procurement Managers, This Report Helps You Solve:

How to urgently secure coated cold-rolled steel supplies before Korea’s provisional anti-dumping duties take effect, which product grades remain duty-free, and which Korean and Japanese domestic mills can fill the gap if Chinese sources become unavailable.
How to evaluate imported billet as a strategic procurement alternative now that Korean mills are actively seeking semi-finished steel to substitute for increasingly expensive and scarce domestic scrap.
How to plan HRC procurement around the approaching finalization of Korea’s five-year anti-dumping duties, and which approved exporters still offer duty-free access under the price undertaking mechanism.

Sales Managers, This Report Helps You Solve:

How to redirect coated flat steel volumes away from Korea’s soon-to-be-restricted market toward Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern destinations where demand remains strong and trade barriers are lower.
How to capitalise on Korea’s structural pivot to imported billet — a demand channel driven by a permanent scrap deficit and the imminent commissioning of a major new electric arc furnace.
How to price HRC exports in a softening but not collapsing market, using cost-push factors and regional price floors to justify offers above critical psychological thresholds.

The core value of this report:
Korea’s simultaneous finalisation of permanent HRC duties and imposition of provisional coated steel duties — combined with a structural shift toward imported billet — redraws the map of who can sell what into Northeast Asia, and procurement and sales strategies must adapt before the June deadlines.

This report includes explicit week-on-week price and policy comparisons, so subscribers can track the precise trajectory of market shifts — not just the headlines, but the data behind every decision.

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