Cement Industry with Many Factories in Donghae and Samcheok Sweats Over Recovery and Support

On the 7th, a member of the Ssangyong C&E Disaster Recovery Support Team was conducting mop-up operations in the Bicheon area of Donghae City, Gangwon Province.
[Photo by Ssangyong C&E]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] As the wildfire damage in the East Coast areas such as Samcheok, Gangneung, and Donghae continues to grow, the cement industry with factories in these regions is working hard to support and restore the wildfire damage.

Ssangyong C&E, which has a factory in Donghae City, Gangwon Province, saw its CEO and Executive Officer Lee Hyun-jun directly participate in the firefighting efforts. On the 7th, Lee met with Shim Gyu-eon, mayor of Donghae City, to deliver 300 million KRW in restoration support funds. A disaster recovery support team composed of employees from the Donghae factory and partner companies visited the Bicheon and Chorokbong areas, where firefighting operations were underway, to encourage and assist in the efforts.

Ssangyong C&E quickly deployed about 100 personnel, excluding essential factory operators, along with dozens of equipment such as excavators, loaders, water trucks, and fire water supply vehicles operated by the factory. They also provided bottled water, beverages, and snacks.

Halla Cement, which has a factory in Ok-gye-myeon, Donghae City, near the wildfire location, experienced an automatic shutdown of its factory due to the voltage monitoring device activating when the wildfire affected the power transmission tower supplying electricity to the factory. Following emergency response procedures, Halla Cement immediately controlled the site and used firefighting equipment such as fire hydrants, high-pressure water trucks, backpack pumps, and rakes to efficiently prevent the wildfire from spreading to the factory facilities.

Although the factory was shut down for two days on the 5th and 6th, resulting in the inability to produce approximately 40,000 tons of cement, the factory resumed normal operations on the 7th. While working to normalize factory operations, Halla Cement is assessing the local damage and preparing specific support measures, including housing victims who lost their homes in Halla Apartments. Sampyosement, located in Samcheok City, also delivered bottled water, beverages, bread, and snacks to Samcheok on the 5th and is establishing separate support plans such as monetary donations.

Unlike Ssangyong C&E, Halla Cement, and Sampyosement, which are located on the coast and thus avoided direct fire damage, Hanil Cement and Sungshin Cement, with factories inland in Danyang and Jecheon, Chungbuk, and Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, operate workplace fire brigades composed of all employees.

Hanil Cement’s Danyang and Yeongwol factories are equipped with firefighting water trucks and fire trucks (water spraying vehicles) as essential equipment and have a system to immediately dispatch in case of fire at the factory or nearby. Sungshin Cement’s Danyang factory also has a workplace fire brigade of 104 members. In addition to fire trucks (water spraying vehicles) and legally required firefighting facilities, they have installed 61 additional fire hydrants on their own.

The regional factories of Hanil Cement and Sungshin Cement conduct about 60 fire drills annually to thoroughly prepare for fires. According to the companies, when a wildfire occurs, the workplace fire brigades immediately respond by carrying backpack pumps and rakes prepared under the command system.

Lee Hyun-jun, CEO of Ssangyong C&E, said, "I extend my condolences to the victims and local residents affected by the sudden wildfire damage. We hope to be of some help to the affected residents and will continuously discuss necessary measures for restoration support to actively assist in the early recovery of the damage."

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