POSCO partially restarts Pohang furnaces flooded by typhoon

POSCO Holdings Inc., the holding company of South Korea’s largest steelmaker, has partially restarted its blast furnaces at its main plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, which have been idle since last Tuesday hit by Typhoon Hinnamnor.

Furnace 3 resumed operations as of Saturday, while the other two – furnaces 2 and 4 – are expected to restart work as early as Monday, according to company officials.

POSCO, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, last week shut down all of its three furnaces at Pohang Steel Works for the first time in 49 years as many parts of the steel mill, including power lines, were flooded due to the super typhoon.

The company’s furnace 1 in the port city has already been mothballed as the facility is old.

POSCO’s furnaces at its Pohang plant manufacture heavy plates, hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, iron rods, electrical steel and stainless steel.

Heavy plates are mainly used to make ships, while cold-rolled steel is used for automobiles and home appliances. Wire rods are mainly used at construction sites.

According to the steel industry, crude steel production at POSCO’s Pohang plant was 16.85 million tons last year. It accounted for 35% of the country's total production.

EXACT DAMAGE ESTIMATES YET TO BE DETERMINED

“Exact estimates of the extent of the damage from the typhoon and full restoration of the rolling lines will be possible after underground facilities are back to normal,” said a POSCO official.

The company said about 300 employees were mobilized daily during the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, or Chuseok, to remove mud at the flooded plant. Officials from the Pohang government and Marine Corps soldiers also provided support.

If the recovery work is protracted, shipbuilders will likely be affected by the rising prices of steel plates for shipbuilding.

Industry officials said that home appliance firms such as Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. may be forced to turn to Dongkuk Steel Mill Co.

Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s top automaker, receives steel from Hyundai Steel Co. and POSCO’s steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.

None of POSCO’s five furnaces in Gwangyang were affected by the typhoon.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at Kkm1026@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.