'Construction Material Supply Instability' Hong Nam-gi: "Increase Australian Thermal Coal Imports by 1.5 Times"

The Last Emergency Economic Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters of the Moon Administration... Over 60 Meetings and 310 Policy Discussions in 2 Years Since COVID-19

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki is presiding over the Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held on the 28th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The government has diversified its import sources by increasing the proportion of Australian thermal coal imports by 1.5 times. This measure comes as a response to the surge in thermal coal prices to twice the level at the beginning of the year due to the impact of the Ukraine crisis, which caused instability in the supply of construction materials.

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, presided over the last Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting during his term at the Government Seoul Office on the 28th, stating, "The full-scale recovery of the spring construction market is being constrained, and difficulties in related industries are intensifying."

The price of Russian thermal coal soared from $158.9 per ton in January to $294.6 in March. In response, the government decided to increase imports by expanding the share of Australian thermal coal imports from 25% last year to 38% in the first quarter. They will also minimize import inspections and support 24-hour expedited customs clearance.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong also said, "We will encourage the expansion of domestic production of key materials such as rebar and cement, upgrade the Early Warning System (EWS) rating for major materials related to cement and rebar from a supply perspective, and strictly respond to hoarding and collusion."

He added, "To ensure smooth transportation of materials, we plan to further increase the proportion of cement transported by rail from the current 20% and sequentially replace 1,200 aging cement railcars. We also plan to update and provide weekly information on major construction material price trends and inventory levels."

Regarding recent foreign exchange market trends such as the sharp rise in the won-dollar exchange rate, he assessed, "This is mainly due to external factors such as the possibility of accelerated tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve and concerns over economic slowdown due to China's lockdown measures, with all major currencies except the dollar showing weakness." He added, "The government is closely monitoring to prevent sudden market imbalances and will make efforts to stabilize the market if necessary."

The Moon Jae-in administration held over 60 meetings in the past two years after converting the existing Economic Ministers' Meeting into the Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters system in April 2020, immediately after the COVID-19 crisis. Meetings were held on average every two weeks, discussing a total of about 310 policy agendas.

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