POSCO sees Feb steel output cut below 200,000 tonnes

SEOUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) - South Korea's POSCO (005490.KS), the world's No.4 steelmaker, may further reduce steel production in February but the cut will be below 200,000 tonnes, the company said on Monday.
POSCO, which reduced production by 200,000 tonnes in December and another 370,000 tonnes in January, has said it may have to extend production cutbacks until March due to sluggish demand.
"February's plan has yet to be decided, but the cut will be less than January's and below 200,000 tonnes as steel consuming industries are raising operation rates, although overall demand conditions remain weak," POSCO spokesman Choi Doo-jin said.
POSCO, which produced 33 million tonnes of crude steel last year, warned last month its total output for 2009 may fall by as much as 4 million tonnes, or 12 percent, from the previous year.
Global steel majors have stepped up their production cuts since the fourth quarter of last year as demand for everything from autos to machineries and gadgets tumbles, hit by a deepening global economic slowdown.
Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T), the world's No.2 steelmaker, said last week its January-March output would tumble to about 60 percent of the year-earlier level.
Shares in POSCO were down by 2.1 percent by 0005 GMT, versus a 1.3 percent drop in the broader market