On July 16, South Korean steel giant POSCO issued its financial results for the second quarter of 2010, reporting increased net profit and sales revenues for the period in question.
According to the financial results, the net profit of the company was KRW 1.2 trillion ($999.7 million) during the period in question, increasing 177 percent compared to the corresponding period of 2009. Sales revenues in the second quarter of 2010 saw an increase of 25.1 percent, rising to KRW 7.93 trillion ($6.59 billion) compared to the second quarter of 2009.
The steelmaker also said that it produced 8.36 million mt of crude steel in the second quarter, increasing 17.4 percent year on year.
Despite the increase of raw material costs such as iron ore and coking coal, POSCO reduced costs by KRW 680.4 billion ($565 million), 59 percent of this year’s goal, in the first half of the year by applying low-cost material technology, offsetting most of the raw material cost increases.
The company said that it has increased its total investment budget to KRW 10.4 trillion ($8.64 billion) due to investments in various facilities.