Daedong partners with POSCO to build first robot for steel mills

Daedong Corp., South Korea’s leading tractor and farm machinery maker, said on Thursday it has teamed up with POSCO Holdings Inc., the parent of the country’s top steelmaker, to develop and manufacture robots for use in industrial workplaces, including steel mills.

Under the partnership, Daedong and POSCO will develop industrial robots by the end of July and deploy them at POSCO’s steelworks to collect debris of ore extracted from blasting mineral-contained rocks.

The task was previously conducted manually, POSCO said.

The partnership marks Daedong’s real foray into the robotics business since it recently established a robot business planning division.

“In collaboration with POSCO, we’re seriously entering the robotics market. By 2025, we’ll unveil a prototype autonomous robot with minimal human control, which can be deployed at steel plants,” said Gam Byung-woo, chief of Daedong’s product planning division.

On Thursday, shares of Daedong surged by the daily limit of 30% to finish at 18,080 won, buoyed by the news of its partnership with POSCO. The main bourse’s benchmark Kospi index closed down 0.6%.

Daedong’s affiliates also rallied. Daedong Gear Co. and Daedong Metals Co. rose by the daily limit high to reach 9,100 won and 10,770 won, respectively.

TESLA OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY INDUSTRY

Daedong, dubbed the Korean Tesla of the agricultural machinery industry, has been striving to transform into a smart mobility company, applying autonomous driving and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to its mechanized farming equipment.

In the robotics business, the company plans to develop a variety of agricultural and industrial robots, including automatic gardening, lawn-mowing and transport robots.

Last year, Kakao Mobility Corp., a unit of tech giant Kakao Corp., acquired a 4% stake in Daedong Mobility Co. for 10 billion won ($7.7 million) to jointly pursue smart mobility projects.

Under the deal, the two companies agreed to jointly develop next-generation smart mobility vehicles, including electric motorcycles, e-bikes, golf carts and other non-agricultural electric vehicles.

In April 2022, Daedong established a mobility research center with KAIST to develop motor and vehicle control technology. With Seoul National University, Daedong is developing autonomous driving and smart farm technologies. With KT Corp., it is working on an indoor autonomous driving technology based on a smart robot chair.

Founded in 1947, Daedong Corp. makes tractors, combines, power tillers and lawnmowers as well as engines, cylinder heads and blocks for agricultural machinery. In overseas markets, its products are sold under the KIOTI brand.

Write to Yu-Rim Oh at our@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.