On Tuesday, April 7, South Korean steel producer POSCO, the world's fourth largest steelmaker, announced it won a contract to supply electro-galvanized steel sheets to the world's second largest electronics maker, Sony Corp. of Japan, for use in LCD (liquid crystal display) television manufacturing outside Japan. POSCO has thus become the first non-Japanese supplier of steel to Sony.
Having so far secured galvanized steel mainly from Japan's Nippon Steel and JFE, in 2009 Sony plans to source 10 percent of its global steel needs for LCD TVs from POSCO. POSCO is seeking to boost this figure to as much as 30 percent after 2010.
"The deal was meaningful because POSCO secured a stable client amid the worst-ever slump in the automotive industry," POSCO said in a statement.
The financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.