POSCO shares fall for 4th day on grim industry outlook

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- Shares of POSCO, the world's No. 4 steelmaker, fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday on concerns that global steel demand would not recover any time soon.

POSCO closed at 377,000 won (US$278) on the Seoul bourse, down 1.57 percent.
POSCO is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings and submit its updated
production forecast on Thursday.
"The company needs to look into whether steel demand is really set to recover
given the deepening global economic slump," said Kang Sung-jin, an analyst at
Tongyang Investment Banking & Securities.
POSCO said Monday that it may have to extend its first-ever output cut through
the current quarter of the year as a deepening economic slowdown is reducing
demand from automakers and shipbuilders.
The steelmaker announced the first-ever output cut in its 40-year history last
month, slashing steel production by 200,000 tons in December and another 370,000
tons in January.
Hopes for a recovery in steel demand had gathered pace in recent weeks on the
back of massive government stimulus packages across the world, but have since
been dashed. One POSCO official recently said January's business performance
would be not good.
POSCO said it expects its January steel sales to drop by around 27 percent to 1.9
million tons, hit by faltering demand.
"POSCO sells around 2.6 million tons every month, but sales are seen to be
falling to around 1.9 million tonnes this month," the official said.
Kim Kyong-choong, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said POSCO's fourth-quarter
results may not be so grim and that the falling price of raw materials combined
with recovering steel prices may help the steelmaker report
stronger-than-expected profits.