South Korea's imports of Chinese rebar jumped nearly 160 percent in May from a year earlier on strong demand from the construction sector, industry data showed Monday.

Rebar imports came to 113,000 tons last month, up 159.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Iron and Steel Association.


Imports of Chinese rebar stood at 515,000 tons in the first five months of this year, accounting for 88.3 percent of the imported rebar market in South Korea, the data showed.

In comparison, imports of Japanese rebar came to 50,000 tons between January and May, up 93.4 percent from a year earlier. In May alone, rebar imports from Japan came to 10,000 tons.

Rebar are in short supply due to strong demand from the booming construction sector, an industry official said, though he added that Chinese rebar could deal a blow to the South Korea market in the mid and long term if the construction sector tapers off. (Yonhap)