Hyundai Steel said last week it would unload its unit in China called the Hyundai Steel Beijing Process. The company said it made the decision due to slow sales in recent years in addition to the diminished market share of Hyundai Group’s auto manufacturing firms - Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors in China.
As per The Korea Herald, while Hyundai Steel is getting rid of its steel processing subsidiary, it will continue operating its Tianjin unit to keep its business in China going. It was said that the total assets owned by the South Korean steelmaker’s Beijing unit are estimated to be about KRW464.8 billion or $355 million.
Based on its regulatory filing, Hyundai Steel stated its total real estate assets are worth about KRW382.3 billion won. A company official said that the size of the deal is not yet on paper because the due diligence process for the acquisition has yet to start.
"Hyundai Steel has completed signing a memorandum of understanding with a potential buyer for the Beijing plant,” an official of Hyundai Steel said. “The company will soon engage in pre-acquisition due diligence and finish selling its Beijing unit during the first half."
It was in 2002 when Hyundai Steel Beijing Process was built on a site close to production plants owned by Hyundai Motor and Kia. The facility supplied various steel products to the said vehicle factories.
Until 2016, the Beijing unit has been posting an annual operating profit between KRW10 billion and KRW20 billion. However, when China and South Korea’s economic relationship soured due to the latter’s deployment of the US THAAD anti-missile system, the company’s performance started to decline, and sales of Hyundai Motor and Kia cars also dropped in the process.
The carmaker’s share in the Chinese car market went down from 3.59% to 3.43% percent in 2019, and this continued to plummet until it reached 1.21% last year. Kia’s record fell from 1.68% in 2018 to 0.43% in 2022.
The Korea Times stated that the rapid losses also resulted in the decline of sales for the Hyundai Steel Beijing Process. It posted a net loss of KRW49.6 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, the poor performance of the steel firms was partly blamed on China's boosted capability to make its own steel materials and sell them at a lower price.


TrumpRx Website Launches to Offer Discounted Prescription Drugs for Cash-Paying Americans
China Extends Gold Buying Streak as Reserves Surge Despite Volatile Prices
U.S. Stock Futures Slide as Tech Rout Deepens on Amazon Capex Shock
American Airlines CEO to Meet Pilots Union Amid Storm Response and Financial Concerns
Asian Markets Surge as Japan Election, Fed Rate Cut Bets, and Tech Rally Lift Global Sentiment
Toyota’s Surprise CEO Change Signals Strategic Shift Amid Global Auto Turmoil
Uber Ordered to Pay $8.5 Million in Bellwether Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering
Samsung Electronics Shares Jump on HBM4 Mass Production Report
Asian Stocks Slip as Tech Rout Deepens, Japan Steadies Ahead of Election
India–U.S. Interim Trade Pact Cuts Auto Tariffs but Leaves Tesla Out
Dow Hits 50,000 as U.S. Stocks Stage Strong Rebound Amid AI Volatility
U.S.-India Trade Framework Signals Major Shift in Tariffs, Energy, and Supply Chains
Weight-Loss Drug Ads Take Over the Super Bowl as Pharma Embraces Direct-to-Consumer Marketing
SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates 



