POSCO completes giga steel plant in China

South Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO announced on Thursday that it has completed a specialized integrated processing facility for giga steel in POSCO-CSPC (China Suzhou Processing Center), located in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. 

Giga steel is an ultra-high-strength steel that can withstand a load of over 100 kg per square meter. By utilizing giga steel, vehicle components can be made thinner without compromising strength, resulting in lighter weight.

POSCO expects that giga steel would be extensively used as a material for electric vehicles, which are generally about 25% heavier than internal combustion engine vehicles. This is why POSCO has made new investments in CSPC, which is adjacent to electric vehicle manufacturing facilities.

CSPC, which was established in 2003, is the largest among POSCO's 26 overseas processing centers and specializes in the production of automotive steel sheets. However, the efficiency of processing giga steel was compromised as it required the use of conventional slitters (equipment for cutting coil-shaped steel materials) and blanking (equipment for processing steel plates into various shapes using a mold press).

With this investment, CSPC has acquired a specialized slitter for giga steel with an annual capacity of 135,000 tons and a 1,600-ton press. Through the specialized equipment for giga steel, CSPC can cut the material in the first stage and produce and supply semi-finished products for automotive parts.

CSPC plans to actively pursue new orders related to giga steel in collaboration with major local automotive component suppliers. The goal is to expand the sales volume of giga steel to more than double the current level, which accounts for about 6% of CSPC's total sales, by 2027.

"We will provide the highest-quality products and services at CSPC and the other 12 integrated processing centers in China, aiming to leap forward as a leading eco-friendly future material company in the rapidly changing Chinese automotive market centered around environmentally friendly vehicles," the head of POSCO China Song Yong-sam said. 

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com