Chairman Choi Jung-woo: "The Top Priority for the New Year is 'Safety'... ESG Management Must Be Led by the Holding Company"

Emphasizing 'Safety' Ahead of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act Enforcement on January 27
Completion of Eco-Friendly Steelmaking Base Including Electric Furnace Installation
Strengthening Capabilities in New Business 'Electric Vehicle Battery Materials' Sector

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoonju Hwang] Choi Jung-woo, Chairman of POSCO Group, emphasized in his 2022 New Year's address that safety must be established as the top priority value. Along with this, he stressed that this year efforts should be focused on establishing an electric furnace for the production of eco-friendly steel products, securing competitiveness in the secondary battery materials business, and expanding capabilities in the hydrogen business.

In his New Year's address on the 3rd, Chairman Choi stated, "The holding company will take the lead in group-level ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, further dedicating itself to creating social value that corporate citizenship aims for."

First, he emphasized that "safety must be established as the core value and corporate culture prioritized in all group work sites." He said, "We must expand the application of smart safety technologies, identify and improve unsafe conditions on-site, and conduct risk assessments to establish an autonomous safety culture involving all employees," adding, "we must also build a perfect health management system to protect employees' health from infectious diseases and preserve the workplace."

His management goals for this year include ▲completion of an eco-friendly steelmaking foundation ▲securing competitiveness in the secondary battery materials business ▲expanding hydrogen business capabilities ▲and increasing venture investments.

Chairman Choi stated that the steel business must secure future steel competitiveness through the completion of an eco-friendly steelmaking foundation and global growth. He said, "First, we will expand the development of low-carbon technologies based on blast furnaces and promote the establishment of electric furnaces for direct production of eco-friendly products," adding, "we will accelerate the development of hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology and complete a commercial-scale demonstration plant by 2028."

Regarding the secondary battery materials business, which has been nurtured as a new growth engine since Chairman Choi's inauguration, he said they will secure differentiated competitiveness with quantitative growth as well as ultra-high capacity battery materials and solid-state battery materials. Furthermore, Chairman Choi stated, "we must steadily advance the development of lithium, a core raw material for secondary battery materials, from Australia's ore lithium and Argentina's salt lake lithium, and accelerate full-scale commercialization by converting nickel manufacturing facilities for STS to battery use."

He also emphasized the need to secure business capabilities in the hydrogen sector early. Chairman Choi said, "To become a global top 10 hydrogen producer, we must expand overseas investments and domestic production, and concretize and execute supply roadmaps for major demand sectors such as steel, fuel cells, power generation, and charging stations one by one." Along with this, he announced plans to actively pursue joint research and development (R&D) and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with domestic and international research institutes to internalize core technologies such as ammonia cracking and high-temperature water electrolysis.

Additionally, Chairman Choi urged that group businesses such as energy, construction, and infrastructure shift their operations toward enhancing eco-friendly values and expand venture investments.

He continued, "Through the transition to an advanced management system centered on the holding company, we must establish our identity as a specialized group for eco-friendly future materials and realize eco-friendly growth by strengthening expertise and creating synergies in each business," emphasizing, "we must make the corporate citizenship management philosophy the foundation of all daily life, pursue coexistence and co-prosperity with all stakeholders including local communities, and take the lead in creating a better world."

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