South Korea’s POSCO plans to focus on expanding and “greening” its steel business after it is spun-off.
The move will facilitate the steelmaker’s plan to raise its crude steel production capacity by almost 48% to 68 million mt/year in 2030 from 46 million mt/year in 2021 while furthering its “green” goals that would lower its annual carbon dioxide emissions to 71 million mt from 79 million mt over the same nine-year period, the company said.
As part of the expansion, two new electric arc furnaces will be built in 2025 and 2027, respectively, while research and development of hydrogen-based ironmaking is expected to result in the construction of a demonstration plant by 2028 that is projected to have a capacity of 1 million mt/year, requiring 100,000 mt/year of hydrogen.
To support its expansion, the steelmaker will set up a base to increase its scrap purchases and take stakes in such overseas scrap suppliers, targeting about 4 million mt/year of scrap.
POSCO’s aim to use green hydrogen to replace coal, estimating a need for 3.7 million mt/year of the gas. It plans also to become a major producer and supplier of hydrogen, making 5 million mt of green hydrogen by 2050.
Also POSCO said it aims to build an integrated steel mill in India using eco-friendly infrastructure such as renewable energy and hydrogen.