Monthly sales are likely to drop more than 20% from the previous month Amid a rumor that distribution market at Moonrae-dong, Seoul would be caught up in a crisis of bankruptcy in June-August, the retail sales of steel products in the market were found to have cooled down at the end of May. According to a president of a Moonrae-dong-based distributor said the selling prices for imported steel products have generally increased about 30% compared with the end of last month. Unlike the booming business sentiment of some large-size firms in the sectors of IT and automobile, retail marketers feel that they have not yet pulled themselves out of a slump. Despite being in the seasonal highest-demand period of this year that arrivedin April-May unlike the same period of other years in the past, construction works in private sector failed to make a recovery, leaving the buying interest of consumers weak. What is worse, even money collection conditions have been further tightened recently in the market and distributors are complaining that they are really havinga hard time. The selling price for imported reinforcing bars has recently dropped to 500,000 won per ton from 520,000 won last week, but consumers are delaying their purchase, according to market officials. In the case of 2-inch steel pipes with 2.0mm in thickness, which sold at 770,000 won per ton at the end of April, the market price fell to 730,000 won in mid-May with a 5% discount applied and then was given a 10% discount at the end of May. The distribution market price for C-channels (based on the products with 1.8mm in thickness and 100mm in width), which are sensitively moving in accordance with the fluctuations of private construction activities, had been formed in a range of 700,000-720,000 for a while in April, but came down to 680,000-690,000 won in mid-May andfurther to 680,000 won at the end of last month. However, the sales volume reportedly decreased 10-20% from the preceding month. The selling prices for imported hot-rolled coils also dropped slightly to the level of 630,000 won per ton at the end of May from 640,000-650,000 won, but distributors said that buying interest of consumers has much decreased. In the case of special steel bars, domestic products sold in a range of 720,000-730,000 won as of the end of May, while imported ones maintained the level of 650,000-680,000 won. Meanwhile, according to distribution market officials, some machinery makers located at the Namdong Ind. Complex are going bankrupt successively. jhkwak@snmnews.com