Korean steel producers expanding their business

Korean steel producers expanding their business

Major Korean steel producers, in order to meet rising steel demand, are participating in capacity expansion projects via mergers, acquisitions or strategic alliances. As previously reported by SteelOrbis, South Korean steel giant POSCO announced that it plans to invest Won 13.5 trillion ($12.1 billion) by 2008 to increase its crude steel production to 32 million tons. Won 10.7 trillion ($9.5 billion) of the investment is for local steel sector. POSCO's investments also cover India and Brazil. INI Steel and Hyundai Hysco, affiliates of Hyundai Automotive Group, took over Hanbo Steel and plan to invest Won 905.3 billion ($812 million) in Tangjin Mills to expand steel production further. After the investment projects regarding Tangjin Mills are completed, INI Steel will be able to produce 12.7 million tons of steel and Hyundai Hysco and BNG Steel will able to produce 5 million tons and 300'000 tons respectively. Dongkuk Steel Mills (DSM) is also planning to form strategic alliances for overseas production facilities. Moreover, Union Steel MFG, a subsidiary of DSM, plans to increase its cold rolled steel production capacity by two-fold to 1 million tons. Apart from these mills, many other Korean mills are reportedly planning to increase their capacities.