STEEL Talk presents to you interesting stories of Science, Technology, Energy, Environment, Life — and of course STEEL!

Anyone who doesn’t like getting deliveries? ʕ •ɷ•ʔฅ Probably none. In Korea, almost everyone — men and women of all ages — shops online and receives home deliveries. You can order anything and everything online these days — from clothing and electronics to even food! Then, is this possible for steel as well? That’s the question that flew into Newsroom today.

POSCO steel products are ordered and sent to companies that make the end products that people use — consumer products like mobile phones, cars, and refrigerators! When we receive parcel deliveries, it usually comes in a small box. Can you imagine how big steel could be shipped? POSCO Newsroom shows you how it’s done.

l Purchase POSCO Steel ‘Online’

▲ POSCO client companies buy steel through ‘e-Sales’ of [Steel-N.com]

Client companies can place orders directly through this site. When the order comes through, POSCO marketers look at the order form and checks if POSCO can produce the steel as requested, and also whether it can be delivered by the desired date. Then, they decide whether to produce the steel in Pohang or Gwangyang Works. Next, the system automatically checks the order with the marketers rechecking for any possible errors. After this process, the order is confirmed and then production begins!

While non-members can freely purchase products in general online shopping, an inquiry with client information is needed in advance to purchase POSCO steel. If a direct inquiry is hard, you can consider buying POSCO steel through a general trading company.

l How Is Such Large and Heavy Steel Delivered?

Have you ever seen a delivery truck in front of your house? You must have seen all the parcels stacked up inside. The items we order online are usually delivered by trucks. What about large steel? Well, POSCO’s steel could be sent on trucks, vessels, and even trains!

Once the steel is produced and its quality checked, it’s tightly packed according to its feature and the client’s request. The packing protects the steel from rain, abrasion, and other damages. The steel then leaves the warehouse in one of these three ways: land transport, sea transport, and rail transport, depending on the order.

Let’s suppose you ordered a box of fruit, and it was placed at the bottom of the parcel stack and delivered to you. Wouldn’t your fruit be scratched and bruised? This is why POSCO makes sure the steel is transported safely and appropriately so that customers can use them at the best quality. Now let’s look into the details of each transportation method.

Land Transport
Land transport is a way of loading steel onto cargo trucks and transporting them on roads. Best suited for short-distance transportation, this method is usually used in delivering to nearby areas. It’s easier to arrange than other modes of transportation, making it perfect for urgent deliveries. POSCO also makes a lot of steel that is too large to be transported by regular trucks, so there are special vehicles for this purpose. These vehicles enable the safe delivery of large-sized products.

Sea Transport
Sea transport is considered the most economical method since large amounts of steel — 3,000 to 5,000 tons depending on the size of the ship — can be transported at a single time. POSCO Pohang Works is located on the East Sea, and Gwangyang Works on the left side of the South Sea. So the location of both steelworks makes it appropriate for sea transport since the steel can be shipped to the docks as soon as production is complete. When shipping domestically, POSCO uses a specialized ship called, RO-RO (Roll-On, Roll-Off). Rather than having to ship products one by one, the steels are loaded on a truck in advance, and the truck itself is placed on the RO-RO ship. It makes the work process much more efficient. POSCO is exporting steel to numerous countries around the world as well.

Rail Transport
When transporting steel by rail, a ‘Special Freight Car’ is utilized. Products sensitive to moisture are transported using a freight car equipped with screens and waterproof curtains to protect products. Rail transport causes lower CO₂ emissions than land and sea transport. It’s also appropriate for pre-scheduled transportation and safer — since there’s a lesser risk of accidents.

As seen here, POSCO’s clients can use the online ordering system to order the steel they desire, as well as check the production and delivery process, just as they can with online shopping. Overseas deliveries and other special deliveries are no problem as well. That is all for today! If you have any questions about POSCO in the future, please send them to POSCO Newsroom!

* This article was written with help from Vin-Na Choi of POSCO Sales and Production Coordination Office

In our modern fast-paced society, we probably don’t stop to think about how all of the things that are part of our daily lives reach us. Due to the ideas of one man, the world is shrinking as it globalizes. Modern container shipping will celebrate its 60^th anniversary next year. Container ships now carry about 60 percent of the total value the world’s goods shipped by sea.

The History of Containerization 

Though transporting containers has been practiced since 1792, it wasn’t until 1955 that modern containerization was introduced by American entrepreneur, Malcom McLean. (Image: Malcom McLean, http://bit.ly/1TLcMgF)

He came up with the idea that if he was able to drive his truck straight onto the transportation ships with its cargo and drive it off at the destination point. He later realized the process could be much simpler if the containers could be lifted off the trucks and placed on the ships. The process he created is called “inter-modalism” transportation; cargo can be transported in the same container, without being unloaded or reloaded, through the duration of its route, and on different modes of transportation. Thanks to the efficiency of modern containerization, the world is shrinking and human choice is growing. (Video: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-containerization-shaped-the-modern-world)

Since McLean started his shipping business, the technology of shipping containers continues to advance. The third generation of shipping containers for RO-RO ships using non-cassette carrier (NCC) technology lifts steel plates and coils. This technology is improving the efficiency of the shipping process.

The Efficiency of RO-RO Carriers

On July 2, the Gwangyang Frontier, the world’s first NCC concept RO-RO carrier, left the Port of Gwangyang. The Gwangyang Frontier is dedicated to the shipment of steel plates, and delivers only POSCO Steel products. It will drastically reduce logistics costs for POSCO by improving transport efficiency to a much higher level than conventional RO-RO ships currently operate.

The first generation of steel carriers loaded and unloaded steel by using wharf cranes, which was a very time-consuming and complicated process. The second generation of dedicated steel carriers developed the RO-RO concept to load and unload steel coils by cassette and to be carried to the transporters. The second generation RO-RO carriers required large investments in heavy equipment at both loading and unloading ports.

Gwangyang Marine has acquired a third generation carrier which applies the world’s first concept NCC technology, using bundle transport, and specializing in lifting steel plates and coils. It is expected to save annual logistics costs of about 2.5 billion won by reducing the loading and unloading time by half, and is capable of lifting super-wide and super-long cargo. It is expected to have a big impact on conventional ways of transporting steel plates and coils in future for POSCO.