Builds a next-generation plant incorporating advanced AI and robotics technologies to strengthen its leadership in automotive steel materials

Makes strategic investment in response to the growing demand for premium and larger automotive exterior panels, producing extra-wide products for SUVs and RVs as well as lower-carbon products made with electric arc furnace materials

POSCO (President: LEE Hee Geun) is expanding its production capacity for premium automotive steel sheets to secure a leading position in the future automotive market.

On September 8, POSCO broke ground on its No. 8 Continuous Galvanizing Line (8CGL) at Gwangyang Works. The new line will have an annual production capacity of 450,000 metric tons. Attendees at the groundbreaking ceremony included PARK Seong Hyeon, Mayor of Gwangyang; LEE Hee Geun, President of POSCO; KIM Kwang Moo, Head, Strategic Investment Division; LEE Yoo Kyung, Head, Corporate Procurement Division; KO Jae Yoon, Head, Gwangyang Works; and EOM Kyung Keun, Head, Technical Research Laboratories.

“This is a strategic investment designed to strengthen our future competitiveness amid the rapidly changing global steel landscape,” said LEE Hee Geun, President of POSCO, at the ceremony. “By establishing a POSCO-developed facility specialized in automotive steel sheets—one capable of producing next-generation, high-quality products with enhanced cost and technological competitiveness—we will further reinforce POSCO’s technological leadership in the global market.”

Scheduled for completion in 2028, 8CGL will specialize in producing hot-dip galvanized steel sheets for automotive exterior panels.

Hot-dip galvanized steel sheets are coated with zinc, providing excellent corrosion resistance and a high-quality surface finish. These properties make them suitable for automotive exterior panels and home appliances. As vehicles become increasingly premium, demand continues to grow for hot-dip galvanized steel sheets that offer superior paintability, corrosion resistance and formability for automotive exterior applications.

This marks POSCO’s first investment in a new hot-dip galvanizing facility since 2017. To expand production of next-generation automotive steel sheets in line with the automotive industry’s shift toward more premium and larger vehicles, POSCO will invest approximately KRW 480 billion in 8CGL. Upon completion of the project, POSCO’s annual hot-dip galvanized steel sheet production capacity will increase to 4.95 million metric tons.

Connected to POSCO’s new electric arc furnace (EAF), 8CGL will serve as a key production hub for lower-carbon automotive steel sheets. The line will feature an ultra-high-temperature heat treatment system optimized for EAF-based steel sheets, enabling POSCO to meet growing demand from global automakers for lower-carbon steel. It will also strengthen the company’s production system for extra-wide automotive steel sheets used in the exterior panels of midsize and larger SUVs and recreational vehicles (RVs).

The new line will also enhance productivity and quality competitiveness. POSCO plans to deploy AI technologies built on more than 30 years of operational expertise. These technologies will analyze material, process and quality data in real time and control equipment accordingly, reducing quality variations and defects while improving production efficiency. POSCO will also advance AI transformation (AX) in manufacturing by using AI and robotics for high-risk tasks, such as removing impurities from high-temperature molten zinc and collecting samples.

Leveraging 8CGL, POSCO plans to further elevate its quality and service standards while securing differentiated product competitiveness. By supporting customers’ ability to respond swiftly to market changes and maintain stable production, POSCO aims to help shape the future of the mobility industry as a strategic partner committed to its customers’ success.

Meanwhile, in July, CHANG In Hwa, CEO of POSCO Holdings, announced plans to strengthen the POSCO group’s role as Korea’s leading materials company through a Triple Core strategy centered on industrial, strategic and energy resources. In steel, a core industrial resource, the group plans to reinforce its technology-driven fundamental competitiveness by strengthening market leadership, pursuing Cost Innovation and making a timely transition to low-carbon production.

As part of its strategy to strengthen market leadership, POSCO has designated mobility materials—including Giga Steel and HyperNO, a high-efficiency non-oriented electrical steel used in electric vehicle traction motor cores—among its eight core strategic products. The company also plans to intensively develop Gwangyang Works into a steelworks specializing in next-generation mobility.

▲ On September 8, POSCO broke ground on 8CGL, a hot-dip galvanized automotive steel sheet plant, at Gwangyang Works.

▲ On September 8, POSCO broke ground on 8CGL, a hot-dip galvanized automotive steel sheet plant, at Gwangyang Works.