Hyundai China unit to use more of local steel

Beijing Hyundai Motor Co, the Chinese unit of Hyundai Motor Co plans to increase the use of Chinese steel in its auto production, the company president said recently.

Auto makers are facing rising costs for inputs such as steel, with major steel producers such as South Korea's POSCO pushing through price hikes of as much as a fifth earlier this month.

"We will use as much (Chinese) steel as possible if it is cheap and good quality," Noh Jae-Man, president of Beijing Hyundai Motor Co, told reporters at the recent 2008 Beijing Auto Show.

"But we will not use Baosteel (product) because it is too expensive...We are testing product from other steel makers such as Wuhan and Anshan," he said.

Beijing Hyundai currently uses Hyundai Hysco, the steel unit of Hyundai Motor Group, to buy most of its steel from POSCO and JFE Holdings.

He said the China unit was confident of meeting its 2008 sales target.