November 20, 2008

POSCO to starts USD 1.4 billion steel plant in South Korea

It is reported that South Korea's POSCO had started construction of a KRW 1.4 trillion (USD 1.4 billion) plant to boost annual steel production by 2 million tonnes by 2010.

The new steel plant at its Pohang hometown, in the southeast of the country, will be used to produce billet, hot-rolled steel products and ship plate, which has seen demand far outstrip supply thanks to the booming shipbuilding industry.

POSCO in a statement said that "The new plant will not only help ease steel shortages but also reduce costs and boost profits, as it will mainly produce high value-added products adding the new project will contribute 410 billion of operating profit from 2010.”

It said that the new plant with 3 million tonnes of capacity, will boost POSCO's total crude steel capacity in its Pohang steel complex to 17.6 million tonnes per year.