SEOUL, April 22 (Reuters) - POSCO , the world's No. 3 steelmaker, reported a 36 percent fall in quarterly operating profit, missing forecasts, hit by high raw materials costs and low demand.
The South Korean company, which trails ArcelorMittal and Baosteel , said January-March operating profit was 921 billion won ($852 million), below a consensus forecast of 1.1 trillion won by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The profit compares with 1.44 trillion won a year ago and 519 billion won in the previous quarter, POSCO said.
POSCO raised domestic steel prices by 16-18 percent this week in its first increase since July last year because of the surge in costs of raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal. Prices of spot iron ore have jumped more than 30 percent since July. [ID:nL3E7FJ05O][ID:nTOE65L006]
Shares in POSCO have little changed so far this year, underperforming the broader market, , which renewed lifetime highs this month, and lagging its home rival Hyundai Steel's 19 percent jump. ($1 = 1080.950 Korean Won) (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott and Jonathan Hopfner)