Andongil, President of Hyundai Steel, "Management Improvement Effects Will Appear Starting Next Year"

"Sale of Steel Pipe Division Under Review Among Multiple Options"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Andong-il, CEO of Hyundai Steel, stated, "From next year, the effects of management improvements will become visibly apparent."

According to Hyundai Steel on the 16th, CEO Andong-il received the 2021 business plan reports from each business division and said, "Although this year was a difficult one due to market deterioration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from next year, the effects of business adjustments will begin to show."

Hyundai Steel has been pursuing business structure reorganization since early this year to improve profitability. As part of this, in April, the forging business division was spun off to establish Hyundai IFC Co., Ltd., and the operation of the thin plate rolling and color steel sheet facilities at the Dangjin Steelworks was suspended.

Regarding the sale of the steel pipe business division, which has been underway since January this year, CEO Andong-il is considering various options. He said, "No specific direction has been decided," adding, "Economic issues such as the impact of COVID-19, labor-management issues, and the regional characteristics of the site located on Hyundai Mobis land are intertwined, so pushing forward recklessly could cause side effects."

He plans to approach other business structure reorganizations cautiously. CEO Andong-il explained, "Hyundai Steel's diverse portfolio is an advantage during boom periods. Although it may be inefficient now, all are businesses generating operating profits, so they cannot be handled hastily."

The reason CEO Andong-il is confident about next year's performance is that sales of the core product, automotive steel sheets, are recovering, and product distribution prices are increasing. The industry estimates that Hyundai and Kia Motors' sales volume will increase by 13.3% to 6.87 million units next year. Moreover, by significantly reducing loss-making divisions, the scale of losses is expected to decrease substantially next year. Hyundai Steel is currently negotiating automotive steel sheet prices for the first half of next year (February to July).

According to FnGuide, a financial information provider, the consensus for Hyundai Steel next year forecasts consolidated sales of 19.0216 trillion KRW, a 6.05% increase from this year, and operating profit of 552.5 billion KRW, a 384.8% increase. In particular, net profit is expected to turn positive at 237.8 billion KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.