It is reported that South Korean CRC producers have started to negotiate with foreign HRC producers since end of 2008. Their contract price was set at USD 440 to USD 550 per tonne FOB with a volume of several thousand tonnes or 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes.

In detail, the price was set at USD 450 per tonne FOB by South Korea and Taiwan, Russian, Turkey, USD 550 per tonne FOB by South Korea and Japan. Therefore, the import cost was accounted to be KRW 0.6 to KRW 0.7 million, lower than POSCO's offer of KRW 0.88 million or Hyundai Steel's price of KRW 1.02 million.