In May, both production and sales of plates increased despite a drop in exports. Domestic sales of plates surged 21.8% to 426,000 tons in May compared with the same month of 2003, boosted by robust march of POSCO and Dongkuk Steel. In order to help consumers reduce difficulties in securing raw materials, those two plate makers intensively enlarged their domestic sales and lessened exports. In fact, Dongkuk Steel posted nil in exports last month. The monthly domestic plate sales by POSCO and Dongkuk Steel registered 255,000 tons and 171,000 tons, respectively, with a year-on-year soar of 15.5% and 32.4%. On the export front, POSCO registered 36,000 tons and Dongkuk Steel nil, thus dragging down the monthly figure by 57% from a year ago. In production, POSCO rose 9.8% from a year earlier to 284,000 tons and Dongkuk Steel stood at 180,000 tons, up 5.3% from a year ago and a surge of 13.2% from the preceding month, bringing the monthly total to 473,000 tons with a year-on-year growth of 8%. sskim@snmnews.com