Sales top 1 trillion won, up 14.1% on-year
Operating profit hit by intensified competition from low-cost imports
Roll margin narrows on rising raw material costs
Company vows to strengthen high-value product mix, cut costs
SeAH Besteel Holdings announced Thursday that its consolidated sales reached 1.06 trillion won ($790 million) in the third quarter, while operating profit came in at 14.4 billion won.
Sales rose 14 percent on-year, driven by higher sales volumes at SeAH Besteel and SeAH Changwon Integrated Special Steel and by price increases reflecting higher raw material costs — even as sluggish domestic demand recovery and global trade uncertainty continued to weigh on the business environment.
Operating profit fell 46.4 percent over the same period. Intensified competition from low-cost imports prevented the company from fully passing on raw material cost increases to selling prices, while logistics costs rose amid instability in the Middle East and exchange rate volatility further compressed roll margins.
SeAH Besteel focused on securing demand in eco-friendly mobility — including hybrid electric vehicles — as well as defense and heavy equipment, lifting sales 16.0 percent on-year. Operating profit fell 34.4 percent over the same period as an influx of low-cost Chinese imports intensified market competition and rising prices for steel scrap and other raw materials squeezed roll margins.
SeAH Changwon Integrated Special Steel posted a 17.8 percent on-year increase in sales, driven by expanded sales of high-value stainless steel products targeting AI semiconductor, energy and power generation industries, even as demand from traditional end markets such as industrial machinery and construction remained sluggish.
Operating profit fell 27.8 percent over the same period as roll margins narrowed due to rising prices for key raw materials including nickel and stainless steel scrap.
SeAH Besteel Holdings said it would improve its high-value product sales mix in line with purchasing trends in resilient demand sectors — including eco-friendly vehicles, semiconductors, defense, and energy and power generation — while broadening supply opportunities for premium products to build a more profitability-focused sales structure. The company added it would continue process efficiency improvements and cost-reduction efforts to ease production cost burdens, and actively respond to changes in raw material prices and customer operations to defend profitability.
The company also said it would faithfully engage in trade remedy proceedings, including anti-dumping investigations into Chinese steel bar imports, and work to stabilize domestic sales based on quality and delivery competitiveness through fair market conditions. It added that it would strengthen cooperation between its domestic subsidiaries and SeAH Super Alloys Technologies, its US special alloy production unit, to address growing demand for supply chain diversification in the global aerospace and defense sectors and secure a long-term growth foundation in high-performance specialty metal materials.
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