Last spring season has witnessed very low production of SM from South Korea. Reason behind this low production has been the shutdown of seven SM manufacturing plants out of eight. Korea is the major supplier of SM to China and other Asian countries. Low production in turn led to soaring of SM prices incredibly. FOB Korea values for SM in the month of January was around USD 800 mt which has now jumped to the level of USD 1240 mt in the last week of May. Low stocks for SM in the China market has further profound the situation. To overcome this China increased its imports from US. Its US imports tripled in the month of April. However many believe that with starting of Korean units the supply for SM will be surplus in Asian market. But the downstream markets are operating at such high level that all the production is likely to get consumed in near future.
