Hyundai Steel cut profit by 46% in Q2

Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's second-largest steel company in terms of sales, said Friday that, due to lower demand in China, its net profit fell 46 percent in the second quarter from the previous year.

"As shipments of automotive steel to Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp's (China) plants plummeted, quarterly profits plummeted," a company spokeswoman said.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are the metallurgical company's two main buyers of high quality automotive steel products. Hyundai Steel earns about 30 percent of its total sales from deals with two automakers.

In addition, higher prices for iron ore and coking coal, the two main raw materials used to make steel, are also reflected in our second-quarter profit margins, she said.