"POSCO History's Second Founding" Holding Company Launched After 54 Years... Choi Jeong-woo: "Stepping Up as a Global Leader" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] "Today marks the beginning of the second founding in POSCO's history."

This was the opening statement by POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, announcing the launch of the holding company system after 54 years.

At the POSCO Holdings inauguration ceremony held on the 2nd at the POSCO Center in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Chairman Choi stated, "This will be the first step in rebirth as POSCO Group, a 100-year company that continues to grow beyond the myth of success we have achieved over the past half-century." He added, "The holding company must pursue flexibility that meets the demands of the times from a group-wide perspective, and the business companies must maintain professional expertise in their respective fields to sustain competitive advantages."

Transition to Holding Company System after 54 Years Since Founding... POSCO Proclaims 'Second Founding'

As Chairman Choi emphasized the 'second founding,' the scope of future changes is expected to be rapid and significant. POSCO Group presented a blueprint to strengthen the competitiveness of business companies centered on POSCO Holdings and to discover future growth businesses, aiming to become a leading eco-friendly future materials company. He stated, "POSCO Holdings must dramatically enhance the value of POSCO Group through 'real value' management." The 'real value' mentioned by Chairman Choi encompasses the total value created by corporate activities and includes economic, environmental, and social values provided to members of the social community as part of society.

POSCO Holdings is expected to be composed mainly of about 200 personnel who were responsible for group management such as management strategy and portfolio management. Under the holding company, departments such as ▲Management Strategy Team ▲Eco-friendly Infrastructure ▲ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) Team ▲Eco-friendly Future Materials Team ▲Future Technology Research Institute will be placed. In particular, the Future Technology Research Institute plans to focus on new business research and development (R&D) and securing core technologies. The plan is to intensively attract excellent domestic and international researchers to lead technology development in future new technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), secondary batteries, and hydrogen.

POSCO Holdings identified steel, secondary battery materials, and hydrogen as the group's seven core businesses. Chairman Choi, who presented the growth vision of 'a global business leader leading humanity's sustainable future,' said he would promote new businesses centered on ▲completing steel carbon neutrality ▲driving mobility ▲leading green energy. The goal is to increase corporate value more than threefold by 2030, surpassing a group market capitalization of 100 trillion won.

Choi Jung-woo, Chairman of POSCO

Beyond Steel: Secondary Batteries, Hydrogen, Energy... Tripling Market Cap by 2030

In steel, POSCO plans to invest 2 trillion won by 2030 to reduce total carbon dioxide emissions by 20%, including a 10% social reduction target in Korea.

By 2030, POSCO aims to build a demonstration plant for its proprietary hydrogen reduction steelmaking model, HyREX, to verify commercialization potential, while expanding low-carbon products through the introduction of new electric furnaces and improving profitability, targeting an average operating profit margin of 13% from this year through 2030.

Overseas, POSCO plans to invest 12 trillion won by 2030 to increase crude steel production capacity from the current 5.1 million tons to 23.1 million tons and raise operating profit margins to around 7%. To achieve this, POSCO is considering expanding integrated mills in Indonesia and joint ventures for electric furnace integrated mills in the United States.

For secondary battery materials, the strategy is to expand anode and cathode production capacity from the current 115,000 tons to 680,000 tons by 2030 and become a global leading company through securing leading technologies. In particular, silicon-based anode materials for next-generation electric vehicles are being developed in cooperation with European automakers, aiming to establish mass production facilities by 2023. The lithium and nickel businesses, raw materials for secondary battery materials, aim to secure production capacities of 220,000 tons of lithium and 140,000 tons of nickel by 2030 through mines and salt lakes owned by POSCO.

The hydrogen business plans to invest 10 trillion won by 2030, targeting annual sales of 2.3 trillion won and production of 500,000 tons. Over the next 20 years, the business will be advanced to establish an annual hydrogen production system of 7 million tons by 2050, positioning POSCO as a global 'Top 10' hydrogen supplier. To this end, POSCO Group is currently pursuing 19 hydrogen production projects in seven strategic countries. In the Middle East, POSCO is securing blue hydrogen off-take rights through equity investments in projects with global oil companies, while in Australia and Oman, it is reviewing participation in multiple green hydrogen production projects.

In the energy business, POSCO plans to expand hydrogen economy-related businesses such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), ammonia, and renewable energy, and increase orders in eco-friendly sectors such as zero-energy buildings, modular construction, and hydrogen production plants in the construction and infrastructure fields. The food business will expand related operations based on international environmental certifications, and future business discovery will be promoted by nurturing promising venture companies under the holding company system.

Additionally, POSCO is considering strengthening business capabilities through the establishment of venture funds and discovering and investing in promising ventures. It plans cumulative fund contributions of 800 billion won by 2030, and the total fund formation amount, including POSCO's contributions and external venture fund capital, is expected to exceed 4 trillion won.

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