Chairman In-hwa Chang, a key figure in the global steel industry, made a significant presence at the World Steel Dynamics (WSD) Global Steel Conference, engaging in crucial discussions with top CEOs on the industry’s pressing issues.
Chairman In-hwa Chang introduced the unique aspects of POSCO Group’s core business competitiveness, notably the ‘Green Transformation (GX) and Digital Transformation (DX) plan’ for the steel business, and the pioneering ‘next-generation battery material development’ for the secondary battery materials business.
Shared POSCO Group’s vision for carbon neutrality and an eco-friendly future society through investments in hydrogen reduction steelmaking and secondary battery materials, presenting a future roadmap for the global steel industry.
Chairman In-hwa Chang showcased POSCO Group’s strategy to secure competitive advantages on the global stage for the first time, aiming to propel the company into a premier future enterprise.
▲Chairman In-hwa Chang is delivering a keynote speech on ‘Innovation Towards Future Competitive Excellence’ at the Global Steel Conference in New York on June 18.
On June 18 (local time), Chairman Chang delivered a keynote address on ‘Innovation Towards Future Competitive Excellence’ at the Global Steel Dynamics Forum in New York, hosted by the world-renowned steel analysis firm, World Steel Dynamics (WSD).
The Global Steel Dynamics Forum is the largest annual global steel conference in the Americas since 1986, attracting major steel companies, equipment and engineering firms, and financial institutions. This year’s forum was attended by over 500 industry leaders and stakeholders, including Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman of Cleveland Cliffs, Mark Millett, Chairman of Steel Dynamics, Inc., and Jayant Acharya, Chairman of JSW, to discuss current issues and the future of the steel industry.
In his keynote speech, Chairman Chang highlighted POSCO Group’s innovation efforts to address global megatrends such as industrial transformation, geopolitical uncertainties between the U.S. and China, and demographic and social structural changes. He introduced the company’s business strategies based on steel and secondary battery materials and organizational culture innovation, capturing the attention of the attendees.
Chairman Chang presented Green Transformation (GX) plans through a low-carbon supply system and Digital Transformation (DX) to create Intelligent Factories in the steel sector. He emphasized that the commercialization of hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology, ‘HyREX,’ would complete a low-carbon facilities system, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. He also stressed the implementation of Intelligent Factories, an intelligent autonomous manufacturing process through collaboration between humans, AI, and robots.
POSCO Group plans to secure unrivaled cost competitiveness using GX and DX technologies while strengthening the construction of a safe work environment by replacing high-risk, high-intensity tasks with AI and robots.
In the secondary battery materials sector, the focus is on securing raw material competitiveness, such as lithium and nickel, while committing to unwavering investments to complete the entire value chain from raw materials to anode and cathode materials and next-generation battery material technology development, with the goal of early commercialization.
Chairman Chang also shared communication strategies to spread a young and dynamic corporate culture in the traditionally manufacturing-centric steel industry, actively engaging with future generations, including Gen Z. As a representative case, he introduced the animation advertisement ‘Fantasteel,’ created in collaboration with the online gaming industry last year, which garnered significant empathy from the younger generation with nearly 34 million views.
Concluding his speech, Chairman Chang shared POSCO Group’s vision to expand its business with innovative materials for an eco-friendly future society and to leap forward as a premier future enterprise with a spirit of challenging limits. He called on the global steel industry to unite to overcome and solve pressing issues such as carbon neutrality.
After the keynote speech, in response to a question from Philipp Englin, Chairman of WSD, about prospects for the electric vehicle market, Chairman Chang stated, “The automotive market will eventually transition to electric vehicles. We will continue to seek new investment opportunities, using the chasm period as an opportunity to solidify our internal stability.”
Meanwhile, WSD has selected and announced the world’s most competitive steel companies annually since 2002. Last year, POSCO was named the world’s most competitive steel company for the 14th consecutive year.