Seoul to host World Steel Association General Assembly for first time in 22 years, reaffirming Korea’s global standing in steel
Attended three-day New Delhi General Assembly beginning on the 11th; discussed key issues, including climate action, with global steel CEOs
Met one-on-one with JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal; personally advancing integrated steel mill joint venture in India, a high-growth marke
CHANG In Hwa, CEO of POSCO HOLDINGS and head of the Korea Iron & Steel Association, led the successful bid to bring the 2027 World Steel Association (worldsteel) General Assembly to Seoul.
At a meeting of members in New Delhi, India, on Oct. 13 local time, worldsteel officially announced Seoul, South Korea, as the host city for its 2027 General Assembly. Held each October, the worldsteel General Assembly brings together CEOs from global steel companies to discuss industry priorities and explore cooperation on sustainable development. Seoul last hosted the event in 2005, making this its first return in 22 years.
CEO CHANG appeared in a promotional video for the Seoul General Assembly, encouraging worldsteel members to attend.
Seoul’s selection reaffirms the global standing of Korea’s steel industry. As of last year, Korea was the world’s sixth-largest crude steel producer, with output of 62.23 million tons, and ranked first in per capita steel consumption at 844 kg. The figures reflect the competitiveness of Korea’s steel industry, which has supported the growth of key demand sectors including automotive and shipbuilding. Korea is also leading the transformation of steelmaking through technologies such as hydrogen reduction ironmaking.
* Hydrogen reduction ironmaking: A technology that uses hydrogen instead of coal as a reducing agent to produce molten iron.
At the three-day worldsteel General Assembly in New Delhi beginning on Oct. 11, CEO CHANG continued his efforts to strengthen global cooperation and solidarity. At the Executive Committee meeting that day, participants held in-depth discussions on key issues, including guidelines for low-carbon products and the international standardization of methods for allocating carbon emissions. On climate action, CEO CHANG cited the damage caused by Typhoon Hinnamnor in 2022 and stressed the need for a public-private response framework to prepare for extreme disasters.
During the General Assembly, CEO CHANG also met with leaders of major steelmakers, including JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal, to explore ways to deepen business cooperation. POSCO is pursuing a joint venture with JSW Steel to build an integrated steel mill in India, a high-growth market. The joint venture is part of POSCO group’s “Triple-Core” strategy and its approach to fully localized overseas investment. POSCO aims to establish a growth model that expands its scale in promising overseas markets with strong profit and growth potential while strengthening the competitiveness of its domestic steel business.
Meanwhile, POSCO received the Grand Prize in the process safety management category of the worldsteel Safety and Health Excellence Recognition on Oct. 13. The recognized initiative, “In-house vision AI development to help prevent safety incidents,” uses AI to analyze video from worksites, automatically detect hazards and immediately alert workers. It was recognized as a leading example of innovative AI-powered safety technology.
▲ CHANG In Hwa, CEO of POSCO HOLDINGS, and JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal pose for a photo after their meeting in New Delhi on Oct. 11 local time.
▲ CHANG In Hwa, CEO of POSCO HOLDINGS, attends the 2026 worldsteel General Assembly.
▲ Seoul will host the 2027 worldsteel General Assembly. A promotional video inviting members to attend is shown.