South Korean steelmaker POSCO has announced that its first quarter profit rose 38 percent, following price hikes for some of its key products and cost cuts.
POSCO earned Won 982.31 billion ($1.1 billion) in the three months ended March 31, compared to Won 713.25 billion ($765 billion) recorded in the same period last year.
Sales during the quarter rose 22 percent to Won 5.70 trillion ($6.1 trillion).
"Rising domestic demand and our cost-cutting efforts by using more low-priced iron and coal helped boost our earnings in the first quarter," said POSCO spokeswoman Ko Min-jin.