South Korean metallurgists ask for exemption from US import quota

Major South Korean steel companies have called on the US government to remove some of its products from the 70 percent US steel import quota, industry sources said Monday.

POSCO-AAPC, an automotive steel mill of South Korea's leading steel company POSCO, recently asked the Department of Commerce to provide an exemption from electrical steel products it imports from POSCO plants in Korea from the limit, a POSCO spokesman said.

POSCO-AAPC imports steel for transformer production at its Alabama plant.

The US $ 19 million Alabama steel plant, which opened in September 2010, is also cutting coils supplied to rail and truck parts for automakers, including Hyundai Motor's Alabama southeastern region.

Hyundai Steel Co. in the US have joined POSCO-AAPC to ask the Department of Commerce to continue importing automotive steel from the Korean steel company for a stable supply of products to Hyundai Motor's Alabama plant and Kia Motors Corp., the company said in a statement.