Hyundai Steel said that it would cut prices of its steel products by up to 20%, following similar moves by domestic rivals.

It said that the price of hot rolled steel would fall by 20% to KRW 780,000 a tonne from June 1st 2009 from the current KRW 880,000 per tonne.

It also reduced prices of H beam steel by 7% to KRW 900,000 a tonne and rebar prices by 8.5% to KRW 751,000 a tonne.

Also, the price of hot rolled stainless steel will be slashed to KWR 2.94 million from the current KRW 3.55 million.

It said that "The move is to secure price competitiveness of our products amid slow economic recovery."

The move comes after its bigger rival POSCO unexpectedly cut domestic product prices by up to 20% earlier this month, as a rebound in the South Korean won threatened to open the door to cheaper imports.