On February 6, the center manager of POSCO-CDPC, Tae-hyun Cho (eighth from the left), received the Excellent Supplier Award from DPCA.

During the award ceremony, 14 excellent suppliers were selected in the fields of distribution, parts, design, electrical and electronic systems. Among the selected companies, POSCO-CDPC is the only processing company that handles raw steel materials.

The DPCA Chengdu production base has an annual production capacity of 360,000 vehicles, and started operation in September 2016. POSCO-CDPC’s No. 2 plant moved into DPCA’s facilities to supply entire orders of blanking processing at the end of 2014. POSCO-CDPC was selected as an Excellent Supplier based on its product quality, delivery and service over the years of the companies’ partnership.

POSCO-CDPC produces and supplies products for 39 different parts in total, including exterior steel used for DPCA’s main SUV models, 4008, 5008 and Tianyi. In the future, POSCO-CDPC hopes to capitalize on its geographical advantages and maximize processing quality and service capabilities to ensure a stable and consistent order base.  

Cover photo courtesy of Autocar.

Among the attendees of the signing ceremony were Adam Bradley, CEO of Top Tubes, Byeong-ryong Suh, Head of POSCO Construction Steel Materials Sales Group and Chae-il Lim, Head of POSCO Daewoo Hot-Rolled Sales Group.

Top Tubes is a UK-based company established in 1994. POSCO first supplied test products of PosMAC steel to Top Tubes in 2012, and in 2013 sold PosMAC for the first time in Europe. In 2016, when zinc-magnesium coated steel was gaining traction globally, CEO Bradley visited South Korea to discuss an extended application plan for PosMAC.

Then, in June 2017, Top Tubes launched MAGNAtube, a premium pipe brand using PosMAC, marking the first time an overseas client established a secondary brand using PosMAC.

Top Tubes plans to actively promote the use of PosMAC in their MAGNAtube products, to feature PosMAC steel’s advanced corrosion resistance compared to namal galvanized steel and its cost-effectiveness in comparison to stainless steel.  

CEO Bradley said, “We have the utmost confidence in POSCO’s products due to the various verification processes of PosMAC. We also expect that MAGNAtube will prove to be a leading, strategic product that will shape the future of our brand.”

POSCO plans to continue to be a reliable partner to Top Tubes and other potential partners in the European market. In order to achieve this, POSCO has developed technical and customized solutions including corrosion-resistant materials suited for the wet and salty climate of the UK, optimal welding wires and a corrosion-resistant pipe seam welding technology.  

Cover photo courtesy of Mining Global.

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More than 100 people attended the dedication ceremony, including Jeong-sik Kwak, the head of POSCO’s External Relations Office, the vice-governor of Rayong, Thailand, the representative of Habitat for Humanity Thailand, the POSCO Group Employee Volunteer Corps and members of the local community.

Jeong-shik Kwak, head of the ER Department of POSCO said, “The Thailand love houses are especially meaningful because the employees of POSCO Group donated 1 percent of their salaries and participated in the construction process. I hope that these love houses will give hope to locals in need.”

POSCO representatives and locals at the dedication ceremony of the love houses in Pluak Daeng, Thailand.

The construction was completed by 50 volunteers of the POSCO Group Employee Global Volunteer Corps from Korea, and 30 employees of POSCO Thainox, POSCO-TCS and POSCO-TBPC.

New resident Tun Kedwarin was moved to tears and stated, “In my old house made of wooden boards, water kept leaking and the house was in danger of collapsing. I was always worried, but now I can sleep without fear, and I am truly happy. I am grateful to POSCO and the government who built me a house.”

POSCO Group Employee Global Volunteer Corps members and Pichamon, a new resident of the love house.

POSCO Group Employee Global Volunteer Corps was established in 2015, and consists of employees of POSCO Group and outsourcing partners who donate 1 percent of their monthly salary. It’s all a part of POSCO’s unique culture of volunteering and giving back to communities.

This year, the members spent 8 days in Thailand starting from August 5, during their personal vacation days and also visited a local school to introduce Korean traditional culture to the students.

OSCO Group volunteers and Thai global staff members worked together for the construction of the love houses.

POSCO also completed 104 houses in Vietnam last May, and donated them to low-income families. In Korea, POSCO constructed steel houses made from PosMAC and donated them to victims of fires and low-income families around the country, all as part of the effort to give back and build stronger communities around the world.

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POSCO recently completed STEP development, and applied it to the hull of Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ ships. STEP is a thick plate product with varying thicknesses that form a gentle slope on a single steel plate. Applying STEP will enable shipbuilders to skip the welding process, reducing labor costs and delivery time. POSCO is the only domestic steel maker to have developed the technology on its own.

Employees of the two companies are standing in front of the hull that was assembled using STEP.

In shipbuilding yards, the thickness of thick plates varies depending on the amount of pressure applied during construction. As the welding of thick plates of different thicknesses involves excessive man-hours, back-end processing is occasionally delayed. In order to help its partner overcome such difficulties, POSCO began to develop the technology for STEP in 2015 in collaboration with Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries. They acquired a classification certification last March for the technology and successfully applied it to an actual shop after several field application tests.

STEP is also expected to benefit domestic shipbuilders currently suffering from the recent global recession of the shipbuilding industry, by helping them reduce costs and increase productivity. Shipowners will also benefit from the improved quality and shortened inspection time.

VP Sang-gyun Lee of Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries explains the development progress of the hull block at the ceremony held to celebrate the first application of STEP.

Officials from Hyundai Samho conveyed to POSCO the difficulties they had on the shop floor over the years before applying STEP, and said, “The use of STEP is expected to secure working space, reduce bottlenecks and welding man-hours, and thus save costs by more than KRW 60 million per ship.”

POSCO is planning to mass-produce STEP starting next year, and expand its application to other industries, such as bridges.

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Kashkadarya Governor Ruziev Zafar Sharopovich, Uzbek government officials, POSCO DAEWOO Managing Director Hyun-soo Kim, and representatives from Hyundai E&C and the Asian Development Bank were among the attendees at the completion ceremony.

The project dates back to March 2013, when Uzbekistan’s state power authorities and the POSCO DAEWOO-Hyundai E&C consortium signed a construction agreement for the 929 MW combined cycle power plant. The USD 862 million project was financed by the Asian Development Bank.

This is the biggest single-unit power plant in Uzbekistan, and will account for 6.6 percent of all the power produced in the country. The plant’s electric power will be supplied to the southern parts of Uzbekistan.

As for the construction process itself, the consortium followed a turn-key process, meaning all the operations including engineering, purchasing and construction were carried out simultaneously.  

“POSCO DAEWOO’s global network, project operation and management skills paired with Hyundai E&C’s construction skills and technology created the synergy that led to the success of this project,” said an official of the consortium. “POSCO DAEWOO plans to use this opportunity to expand its IPP projects beyond Central Asia to Latin America and Africa.”

POSCO DAEWOO is currently operating the first 30MW private capital power plant in Papua New Guinea and is working on building a second plant. Also in the works are new private capital power plant projects in Myanmar, Indonesia and Latin America. POSCO DAEWOO plans to carry out projects related to gas combined cycle power plants and solar power all over the world, and expand the power plant business to the size of 2GW in generation capacity by 2020.

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POSCO CEO Kwon Ohjoon is seen firing up Pohang Blast Furnace No. 3 at the ceremony held on June 6 in Pohang, Korea

Renovations for the blast furnace began on February 24 when POSCO added automated monitoring technology to control the internal state of the blast furnace, a measure expected to help forecast and extend its lifespan. This led POSCO to develop an infrastructure that utilizes artificial intelligence and collect big data from early stages of operation, bringing it one step closer to becoming a “smart blast furnace.”  

Distinguished guests, including POSCO CEO Kwon Ohjoon, are seen powering on the blower switch in the operating room of Pohang Blast Furnace No. 3

In addition to incorporating smart technology, the internal volume of Pohang Blast Furnace No. 3 was expanded from 4350㎥ to 5600㎥, making it the 5th largest in the world, with a capacity to produce 15,000 tons of molten steel in a single day. POSCO now operates 5 of the 14 super-sized blast furnaces in the world, including the world’s largest Gwangyang Blast Furnace No. 1 (6000㎥), Pohang Blast Furnaces No. 3 and 4 (5600㎥) and Gwangyang Blast Furnaces No. 4 and 5 (5500㎥). The remaining blast furnaces are in Japan (four), China (three), Russia (one), and Germany (one).

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POSCO invested a total of KRW 255.4 billion and the 7CGL is expected to have an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons. By designing and constructing the plant with its own proprietary technology, POSCO was able to reduce construction costs, thereby securing cost competitiveness for its customers as well.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon and executives came together on April 26 to officially bring 7CGL online. From left to right: Seong Yu, head of the Technology and Investment Division; Shohei Yamazaki, purchasing organizing director of Renault-Nissan; Kiyoshi Kamishima, general manager of the Materials & Facilities Purchasing Division of Toyota; Jae-cheon Song, chairman of the Gwangyang City Council; In-hwa Jeong, a national assembly member; CEO Kwon; Nak-yeon Lee, governor of Jeollanam-do; Hyun-bok Jeong, mayor of Gwangyang; and Myeong-jin Seo, executive director of Hyundai & Kia.

CEO Kwon remarked, “POSCO opens up a new horizon in automotive steel with the completion of the 7CGL. This new line will allow POSCO to continue to provide differentiated products and customized solutions through smart technology.”

The 7CGL is attracting attention as one of the first plants to produce both hot-dip galvannealed (GA) and hot-dip galvanized steel (GI) at 1.5GPa  steel for automobiles. GA steel is preferred by Korean and Japanese automakers because it has excellent coatability and weldability as the coating layer is made of iron and zinc alloy, while GI steel is preferred by European automakers due to its excellent resistance to corrosion.

Previously, GA and GI steel sheets could only be produced at 1.2GPa due to surface and quality problems that occur before and after plating. POSCO resolved these problems by developing the “high hydrogen rapid cooling technology,” which forms high-intensity tissues in steel sheets before plating, and a “rapid cooling system,” which uses rapid cooling to smooth out the plated surface.

With the completion of 7CGL, POSCO now has seven operating CGLs  in Gwangyang, two CGLs in Mexico, and five CGLs in Thailand, India, and China. Through these CGLs, POSCO plans to produce 10 million tons of steel by 2018 and further solidify its status as a global automotive steel maker.

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More than 290 people attended the presentation ceremony, including Ohjoon Kwon, chairman of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation; Chang-hee Kang, former chairman of the National Assembly; Hong-goo Lee and Deok-soo Han, former prime ministers of Korea; Gong-il Sa, chairman of the Institute for Global Economics; Nak-in Sung, president of Seoul National University; and prize winners from previous years.

Ohjoon Kwon, POSCO CEO and chairman of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation, said, “For the past 10 years, the POSCO TJ Park Prize has been a way to recognize those who tackle the never-ending challenges of today’s world. In the next 10 years, we aim to make the POSCO TJ Park Prize an even more noteworthy honor.”

This year, the POSCO TJ Park Prize was awarded to the following honorees:

• Excellence in Science: Prof. Jong-heun Lee, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Korea University
• Excellence in Education: Attached Middle School at Kyungpook National University
• Excellence in Community Development & Philanthropy: Jimmy Pham of Vietnam, CEO of KOTO
• Excellence in Technology: Myeong-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute at LG Chem.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon (far right) stands with recipients of the POSCO TJ Park Prize. The award recognized their noteworthy achievements in science, education, community development, and technology.

The Excellence in Technology award was added this year to highlight how technology has contributed to the renewal of the Korean economy. Eligible candidates for this category include persons or organizations that contributed to national and global market development.

Prof. Jong-heun Lee of Korea University, winner of the TJ Park Science prize, was honored for his work on the oxide nano hierarchical structure in which nano building blocks are regularly self-assembled, and the p-type oxide semiconductor, which has a high level of catalytic activity that allows for gases to be detected quickly and selectively. His achievements are expected to be widely utilized in various areas such as safety, environment, medical science, and IoT.

Kyungpook National University Attached Middle School, winner of the Excellence in Education prize, was awarded for its model of creative public education. Unlike a typical learning environment, the middle school introduced project-based learning in 2012, which allowed students to switch roles with teachers and also collaborate with one another on a deeper level.

Jimmy Pham, winner of the Excellence in Community Development and Philanthropy prize, established KOTO (Know One, Teach One), the first social enterprise in Vietnam. For 17 years, the organization has been giving at-risk youth a chance to stand on their own by teaching various life-skill classes.

Myung-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute at LG Chem, received the foundation’s very first Excellence in Technology prize. Kim began to oversee battery R&D in 1996 when the secondary battery business was first starting to become active. Through much trial and error and over 20 years of experience in the field, Kim successfully developed the first lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles. He is considered to have greatly contributed to making Korea a leader in the secondary battery industry.

Chang-hee Kang, former chairman of the National Assembly, delivered a congratulatory address, saying, “I would like to thank POSCO for contributing not only to the development of science and technology, but also for actively recognizing scholars and citizens who made a great impact in their respective fields.”

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POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon (left) shakes hands with Tom Schuessler, president of ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, at the signing ceremony between ExxonMobil and POSCO.

ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company, upholds strict standards when choosing materials, and for the last five years has been working with POSCO to manufacture and test slurry pipes at worksites. Last year, a 1.2 m long slurry pipe – made with POSCO’s high manganese steel – was installed at ExxonMobil’s Kearl Oil Sands Project in Canada. It demonstrated a resistance to wear five times higher than conventional materials.

With its abrasion-resistant properties, POSCO’s high manganese steel can greatly reduce overall operating costs and increase oil production. “Seamless collaboration has led to the quick commercialization of this new high manganese steel technology, which will set a new standard for oil sands mining operations,” said Tom Schuessler, president of the ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, who attended the ceremony.

POSCO and ExxonMobil employees pose for a commemorative photo shoot after inking a high manganese steel supply contract at the POSCO Center.

In response to president Schuessler, CEO Kwon suggested furthering their partnership by utilizing high manganese steel in various other businesses within the oil sands industry.

POSCO also plans to use its high manganese steel in the making of heavy construction and bulletproof military equipment as well as steel pipes and facilities to move various minerals including oil sand slurry.

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Apart from music’s biggest night, the Staples Center hosts more than 250 events throughout the year including the games of the NBA’s Lakers & Clippers, the NHL’s Kings, the WNBA’s Sparks, and countless other events. It can host an LA Lakers game one night and in less than 24 hours, it will have transformed into an ice skating rink for the LA Kings (watch the video below to see how it is done). Rolling Stone magazine named it among the top 8 arenas in the US, and it remains one of the top grossing venues as well.

Watch the Staples Center transform itself through 6 events in 4 days.

Obviously a building of this magnitude requires steel in its construction. But a closer look at the Staples Center reveals some unique characteristics that make it stand out among some of the best venues in America.

The Supertruss Supporting the Roof

Most circular arenas and stadiums are built using a ring beam design; however, the Staples Center engineers decided to go with an exposed supertruss in which the structure’s framework is supported by one central truss that supports the building like a spine. At the time of its construction, no other circular sports facility in the nation had used such a design due to the high cost of the steel that had be used for the supertruss.

This supertruss, measuring 64m wide and almost 14m deep and spans the 132m roof with secondary trusses reaching out to connect to the walls. It was assembled in 5 separate sections more than 30 meters in the air, and after each section was complete, the mechanical and roofing systems were installed.

In this short timelapse video, the supertruss can be seen as its spans the diameter of the Staples Center

The Staples Center has hosted the awards show for 17 out of the last 18 years in part due to this roof and its ability to withstand excessive weight demands of up to 175 tons. Staples Center GM Lee Zeidman told Billboard.com that for the first show, he  hired a surveying company to make sure the roof didn’t warp and that the steel didn’t drop. He said, “Nobody had ever done that big of a Grammy show in a building before.”

Strengthening with Shear Walls

To support the Staples Center against the earthquakes that regularly hit the Los Angeles area, contractors needed to increase the structural integrity of the building. PCA, the contractor that made much of the cement foundation, explained that in order to strengthen the perimeter of the main bowl area, they included 4 curved shear walls up to 53m long and almost 49m tall that were used to counter the effects of the lateral load. Also, along the radial lines are 10 more cast-in-place shear walls up to 15m long and 76cm thick. The walls are all supported by large mat style grade beams with cast-in-place ring beams tying the walls together with the precast columns between them. The shear walls and structural reinforcements provide support to the Staples Center and the visitors in the building.

Connecting everything together with steel

In addition to supporting the roof and walls, steel runs throughout the rest of the Staples Center as well.  The concession stands and restaurants are all connected by seemingly endless steel pipes that deliver the beverage of choice to millions of fans, and the ice hockey rink could never be made without the help of pumps and stainless steel piping. Murray Company was contracted for the installation of the sump pump system (for the ice floor), water systems, fuel oil systems, and concession stand piping. They reported using “in excess of 68,000 man hours with a peak crew size of 40 tradesmen” to install the maze of pipes for the Staples Center.

Steel piping runs throughout the Staples Center helping to make sure everything gets where it needs to be. (Photo courtesy of Murray Company)

*Cover photo courtesy of mark6mauno

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