SG Forms Korea-US Alliance for Eco-Friendly K-Ascon... Launches Global Market Expansion

SG, the leading asphalt concrete (ascon) company in Korea, announced on November 17 that it has signed an agreement with Hasco Environmental, a global environmental solutions company specializing in steel by-products, to jointly promote the "EcoSteel K-Ascon" business.

The two companies plan to establish a joint venture (JV) through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the development of an environmentally friendly ascon business based on steel slag. The signing of the agreement took place on November 13 at Hasco Environmental APAC, the Asia-Pacific regional office of Hasco Environmental, located in Shanghai, China.

The companies will jointly review the entire scope of the asphalt concrete business based on steel slag (ESA, EcoSteel Ascon). They have also begun discussions on step-by-step cooperation, including slag processing and quality management, ESA application technology, and commercialization models. Specific matters such as the conditions for establishing the joint venture and the equity structure will be discussed further in the future.

Hasco Environmental, which is jointly promoting the environmentally friendly K-Ascon business with SG, has been providing standardized and systematic expertise in slag management, scrap management, and resource recovery services for the steel and metal industries in more than 30 countries, including the United States, since 1853.

The parent company of Hasco Environmental is Enviri Corporation (formerly Harsco Corporation), a global environmental solutions company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which employs approximately 12,000 people in more than 30 countries worldwide.

Through this collaboration, SG plans to establish a stable supply chain and quality standardization system for steel slag in Korea, while jointly securing road paving projects overseas based on EcoSteel Ascon by leveraging both companies' brands. The strategy is to simultaneously achieve three goals: reducing industrial by-products, promoting resource circulation, and improving road paving quality.

An SG representative stated, "This MOU is an essential step to expand the ESA business using steel slag to a global level. By combining Hasco Environmental's experience in slag processing with SG's expertise in road paving technology, we can provide high-quality, competitive, and environmentally friendly road solutions in both domestic and international markets."

The representative added, "In Korea, we will secure a stable supply and quality standardization of EcoSteel Ascon, and overseas, we plan to jointly discover and promote road paving projects based on SG's EcoSteel Ascon and Hasco's SteelPhalt technology. Through this collaboration, SG aims to transform itself from a simple ascon manufacturer into a comprehensive environmentally friendly infrastructure company that encompasses steel slag recycling and carbon reduction."