South Korean steel giant POSCO has opened a new stainless steel continuous rolling and annealing plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, 374 kilometers southeast of South Korean capital Seoul.
The company said that the plant will allow it compete with cheaper Chinese products by securing technological and price competitiveness.
The new plant has an annual production capacity of 400,000 metric tons. However, with the cold rolled stainless steel output of existing facilities being cut by 150,000 metric tons, the new plant will add 250,000 metric tons to the company's cold rolled stainless steel output capacity.
The stainless steel output increase will enable POSCO to meet much of the demand in South Korea which is currently met by imported cold rolled stainless steel products, and will also enable the company to increase exports.
According to the company's estimates, the amount of cold rolled stainless steel products imported into the country will rise from last year's 130,000 metric tons to 160,000 metric tons this year.