Established in 1947, Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd. produces steel tubes for construction, civil engineering and automobiles, and has been a partner with POSCO for 35 years, since 1980. Purchasing only 3,500 tons of POSCO steel products for their first trade agreement, Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd. now purchases over 150,000 tons of hot rolling products from POSCO per year.

Oh In-hwan, Head of Steel Business Division expressed his gratitude by saying, “It is a meaningful accomplishment for both companies to achieve accumulated trade of 8 million tons while overcoming difficulties together for the past 35 years. POSCO could not have grown to this extent without the help of Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd., our customer as well as our partner. I hope both companies will maintain a close partnership based on trust over the coming years.”

Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd. Chairman Suzuki replied, “With POSCO’s support to constantly supply high quality steel products, we also grew as a competitive steel tube company, securing manufacturing and sales bases throughout Japan. We look forward to POSCO’s continued support in the future.”

During the ceremony, executives of both companies pledged to overcome the current challenges of the steel industry by strengthening cooperative relationship in the future and jointly responding to increasing demands for steel products for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

From left: Kim Young-sang, CEO of Daewoo International, Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd. Chairman Suzuki, Oh In-hwan, Head of Steel Business Division and Maruichi Steel Tube Ltd. Vice President Horikawa

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Held at POSCO Center in Seoul, South Korea, the signing ceremony was attended by interested parties from both companies including In-hwan Oh, POSCO’s Head of Steel Business Division, as well as Francois Provost, President of Renault Samsung Motors.

Oh noted, “When Renault Samsung Motors—which is taking the lead to overcome the recession through innovation—and POSCO are partnered together, both companies will be able to make fruitful development, creating win-win situations.” He also suggested strengthening cooperation in various areas such as production, technology and marketing.

Provost agreed, stating, “POSCO is the best partner with the most advanced technology and innovation, and this agreement will be the foundation for strengthening an already friendly relationship and solidifying the strategic partnership between POSCO and Renault Samsung Motors.”

Renault Samsung Motors plans to produce a new line of vehicles in 2016, which consists of a range of midsize to full-size sedans, as well as midsize SUVs. As such, a constant demand for POSCO’s steel products is to be expected. The new vehicles will use POSCO’s high strength steel sheet for exterior plating and TWB-HPF multiple processing technology will be applied for the first time in Korea, taking the weight reduction of cars to an unprecedented level.

POSCO and Renault Samsung Motors have worked together in researching the latest technologies by applying magnesium sheets to mass produced cars for the first time in the world, and developing a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) donut tank for the first time in Korea. In doing so, the two companies are raising the competitiveness of the local automotive industry through the improvement of quality and development of materials for future vehicles. Furthermore, POSCO aims to provide more value to Renault Samsung Motors by reinforcing its Solution Marketing for world premium products.

Meanwhile, POSCO is supplying steel sheet metal to the world’s top 10 carmakers. Since the late 1990s, POSCO has developed the global auto plate market and expanded overseas production and sales networks, growing as a global steelmaker with an annual production capacity of 8.3 million tons. POSCO plans to achieve sales of 10 million tons by 2018 by strengthening its partnerships with major global carmakers and expanding the sales of world premium products based on Solution Marketing.

(POSCO and Renault Samsung Motors singed an MoU for strategy cooperation at POSCO Center on October 8, 2015. Head of Steel Business Division, In-hawn Oh (fourth from left) with Francois Provost (fifth from left), President of Renault Samsung Motors.)

If 274 million tons of hot rolled products, the top selling products among the 800 million tons of steel products sold, were transformed to 4.5 inch-thick water piping used for household purposes, it could make 32 round trips between the Earth and the moon. Hot rolling involves rolling steel at high temperatures and is widely used for making pipes, auto parts, construction materials and section steel.

Since 2000, when POSCO began concentrating on automobile steel grade, the accumulated sales of cold rolled products have exceeded that of hot rolled products. From 2001 to August 2015, the accumulated sales of cold rolled products total 181.14 million tons, which is 53 million tons more than the sales of hot rolled products during the same period (128.14 million tons). Cold rolled products, which roll hot rolled products again at room temperature, are premium steel products with a fine surface finish. They are used in a variety of applications such as cars, home appliances, industrial machines and construction materials, making huge contributions to increasing profits.

POSCO continues to strengthen its competitiveness and improve profits through the sale of environmentally friendly, high value-added products in plates, wire rods, stainless steel and electrical steel sheets. POSCO plans to expand its sales share for World Premium products to 33 percent by 2014, 45 percent by 2016 and 60 percent by 2020. Meanwhile, POSCO held a resolution meeting to readdress the meaning of achieving an accumulated sales of 800 million tons, expanding the sales of high value-added products, and overcoming the current market conditions. At the meeting, Inhwan, Oh, Head of the Steel Business Division said that the accumulated sales of 800 million tons of steel products is a remarkable feat, resulting from every employees’ commitment to their jobs and asked employees to continue making efforts to take a leap toward the top global steelmaker by turning the current industry crisis into an opportunity.

On September 21, employees of the steel sales division celebrated cumulative sales of
800 million tons at the POSCO Center, promising to improve upon the profitability and
the global competitiveness of POSCO to overcome challenging obstacles in the steel industry.