Using publicly available data, Corporate Knights examined about 4,000 companies with a market value of at least $2 billion. Their methodology looked at 14 key performance indicators (KPIs) covering environmental, social, and financial performance metrics. KPIs included energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions management, atmospheric environment management, water resources management, waste recycling, innovation capacity, tax rates, wage disparities, pension fund ratios, safety performances, turnover rates, diversity, and links between sustainability performance and compensation.

POSCO received high marks for its safety performance, water efficiency, waste recycling, and the levels of average employee wages compared to CEOs.

POSCO ranked first among other Korean companies with Shinhan Financial Group (40th) and LG Electronics (65th) also being listed on The Global 100. German conglomerate Siemens topped the list, followed by Storebrand ASA (Norway) and Cisco Systems Inc (USA). Johnson & Johnson placed 8th, Coca-Cola 48^th, and GE 99^th (see the full list).

These evaluations are significant in that they recognized POSCO’s efforts to secure a sustainable future despite increasingly difficult market conditions such as global over supply of steel, sluggish demand, and strengthening trade regulations.

In addition to The Global 100, POSCO has been listed on the SAM-Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 12 straight years (2005-2016), and World Steel Dynamics (WSD) has named POSCO the most competitive steelmaker in the world for seven years running since 2010.

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1. POSCO Announces New Steel Sheets at Detroit Motor Show

POSCO became the first-ever steelmaker to attend the North American International Auto Show. From January 11 to 24, POSCO revealed many of its automotive-related steel products, such as twinning-induced plasticity steel, hot press forming steel, 1GPa-TRIP and PosM-XP. POSCO already supplies automotive steel sheets to many of the world’s leading automotive and component manufacturers, and has been named “This Year’s Supplier” from leading companies like Toyota and GM.

2. POSCO Ranks as 40^th Most Sustainable Corporation in the World

The 2016 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations report by World Index ranked POSCO 40th, making it the only steel company in the world to make the list. Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the list examines 12 key performance indicators to come up with the ranking, rating companies for R&D innovation, energy efficiency, governance and more. Coming in at 40^th, POSCO was the second-highest ranked Korean company, beating many of the world’s biggest businesses, like GE and Apple, despite the market difficulties faced last year.

3. POSCO Expands Lithium Manufacturing Business

POSCO President Ohjoon Kwon led a groundbreaking ceremony in Salta, Argentina on February 14 for a commercial lithium processing plant. The lithium processing plant will be located at Pozuelos Salt Lake, 4,000 meters above sea level, with the capacity to produce 2,500 tons of high-purity lithium annually. Lithium, which is a key element in many important technologies, such as electric car batteries, was identified by POSCO in 2010 as a main business in developing production technologies. With world lithium market has increased from 70,000 tons in 2002 to 170,000 tons in 2014 and with the growing popularity of electric cars is expected to reach 270,000 tons by 2020.

4. POSCO’s Stainless Steel (STS) Use for Membrane-Type LNG Carriers

Beginning in February, POSCO began supplying all the stainless steel for membrane-type Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers being produced by Korean Gas Corporation. Membrane-type carriers refers to ships that use a single, non-cylindrical tank to hold their LNG cargo, making them more efficient and economical. Korea Gas Corporation developed its own membrane design technology in 2014, so POSCO does not have to pay any royalties abroad for the important new design.

5. POSCO E&C Awarded $650 Million Project in Panama

POSCO E&C signed a major deal with AES Corporation, a U.S.-based power company, to construct a combined cycle power plant and gas terminal in Colon, Panama. The plant will have a power generation capacity of 380MW, the largest in Panama and enough to supply up to 15 million households. The gas terminal will have a storage capacity of 180,000 m³. With the $650 million Panama deal, POSCO E&C has achieved about $5.6 billion in orders in Latin America over the past decade, making the company a major player in the energy plant market in the region.

As you can see, POSCO has started 2016 with a bang, with a wide range of exciting new projects all over the world, in steel, energy, sustainability and other fields. It’s an exciting start to the year, and a sign of even more exciting things to come.

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Throughout March, The Steel Wire will take an in-depth look at the people of steel. From stories of those who actively play a part in the steel industry to those who are directly affected by the products made from steel, we will bring you features that will illustrate just how significant the industry truly is.

Here’s a preview of what to expect this month:

The Women of Steel

Although the steel industry is often considered a “man’s industry,” more and more women are beginning to pursue jobs in this field. With grit, determination and strength, inside and out, these women now account for 20 percent of the salaried and managerial ranks, and 10 percent of hourly workers. In honor of International Women’s Day, we investigate the challenges that women endured over the years as they pursued work in the field.

Limbs of Steel: How Prosthetics are Powering Athletes with Disabilities

Today’s most driven athletes with disabilities are transforming prosthetics by turning their limbs into sport-specific power tools. From hands shaped like ice axes to blade runners for feet, these prostheses are smarter, lighter, stronger and more efficient than ever before, all thanks to steel. Meet some of the most inspiring athletes out there—men and women who have overcome physical challenges to cross finish lines at record speeds, power across swimming pools and climb the world’s biggest mountains.

The World’s Most Famous Blacksmiths

Blacksmithing is an ancient art that dates back to the Iron Age, when primitive man first began making tools from iron. Since then, there have been a select few blacksmiths who have particularly made their mark on the steel industry. Often times these smiths and their weapons are closely associated with famous figures in time. This article will take a look at some of the most famous of the lot.

Fishing for a Solution: How an Iron Fish is Treating Anemia

Anemia is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world, affecting 2 billion people globally. But Canadian scientists have come up with an ingenious solution to help alleviate the problem. Meet the Lucky Iron Fish—a fish-shaped chunk of iron that’s put into a pot and boiled with lemon to give adults 75 percent of their daily recommended iron intake, and close to 100 percent for kids in nations where anemia is prevalent.

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2. The tin can was first patented in 1810. Today about 200 billion tin cans are produced each year, and 600 steel and tin cans are recycled every second.

3. The amount of daily steel production is enough to build 548 Eiffel towers. However, the development of modern steels means that if the Eiffel Tower was rebuilt today, it would only require one-third of the steel that was originally used.

4. Global steel production almost doubled between 2001 and 2014. Today about 8 million people work in the steel industry, which is about the same as the population of Switzerland.

5. The first steel-made automobile was introduced in 1918. Modern cars are built with new steels that are stronger but also up to 35% lighter than in the past.

6. Steel made the modern skyscraper possible. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, completed in 1885, was the world’s first skyscraper. Today the housing and construction sector uses about 50% of world steel production.

7. The amount of energy needed to produce a ton of steel has been reduced by 34 percent since 1972.

8. Steel can be recycled endlessly with no detrimental effects on its properties. All steel created as long ago as 150 years can be recycled and used in new products and applications.

 *All information provided by the ‘World Steel Association’ and ‘American Iron and Steel Institute’.

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Since 2005, the Davos Forum has been announcing the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations’ (hereinafter referred to as Global 100) through the Canadian media-investment consulting company, Corporate Knights.

Corporate Knights examined companies with significant global market capitalization to select the Global 100. Companies were evaluated on 12 main indices, including energy productivity, innovative capacity, staff turnover, and staff versus CEO compensation. In order to achieve high rankings, companies must score well on social, environmental and financial scores, rather than solely on financial measures.

This year’s Global 100 lists four Korean corporations, including POSCO. After ranking 30^th, the best ranking ever for Korean corporations in 2012, but POSCO wasn’t included in the Global 100 for the two years following. However, POSCO re-entered at 36^th this year, as the first evaluation conducted since the inauguration of CEO Ohjoon Kwon. On the other hand, Samsung Electronics ranked 45^th, LG Electronics ranked 51^st, and Shinhan Financial Group ranked 70^th.

POSCO’s highest ranking of any Korean corporation on the list shows that it has been recognized for the efforts of its staff and executives to create a good workplace with reduced staff turnover through sustainable management. It also brought positive results in terms of transparency of information release, including the *ESG integrated report by POSCO affiliates implemented since last year. POSCO was highly praised for the way it has carried out added-value improvements, such as making steel by-products resources and reusing, and in enhancing innovative capacity through R&D investment.

Along with the selection in the Global 100, POSCO has been selected as an excellent corporation in the SAM-Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for 10 years running, which is the first case for any company in the steel industry. In particular, POSCO has been awarded in three sectors; POSCO has won the ‘Industry Leader’ as well as the ‘Industry Mover’ who get the highest rated compared to last year, as well as ‘Gold Class’ for being in the 1% of industry leaders.

Meanwhile, POSCO was selected as the ‘No.1 steel competitiveness of the world’ last year by World Steel Dynamics (WSD), a global steel specialized analysis institute. It was the fifth time running to win the prestigious title. The WSD has conducted its evaluation based on 23 indices, including the size of production and profitability, technology innovation, price determination power, cost reduction, financial soundness and securing raw materials, among 36 steel corporations worldwide.

*ESG 
Since corporation results in the area of Environment, Social and Governance do not appear in the financial element, ESG is defined as the core evaluation element when deciding investment under the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

The Global Contribution of the Steel Industry

Did you know that steel is making the world a better place every day? The amount of daily steel production is enough to build 548 Eiffel towers. Also, steel companies provided 7.8 days of training to each employee in 2013 and 8 million people which is about the same as the population of Switzerland, is working in the steel industry. Moreover, the $100 billion paid in tax is equivalent to putting 10 million students through school each year or building 5,000 new hospitals!

Watch this interesting video created by worldsteel to learn about steel’s global contribution!

Can You Imagine Your Day without Steel?

As mentioned above, steel is enriching the world every day. And, this marvelous material accompanies us through the day: in the bedroom, at work and every where we go. Did you know that steel is indispensable to our daily lives? If you are doubtful, just check the infographic below!

Even More Steel?

Have you ever imagined how pervasive steel is? Can you think of more steel use in our everyday life? Check out our previous postings to learn about the material’s ubiquitous presence in our life and share with us if you can think of anything more!

• What are Automobiles Made of?
  

The automobile is an important part of our daily lives. And steel is a crucial requirement to build this important part. POSCO’s light, but also very durable automotive steel sheets are advancing the global auto industry.

• What is Steel Used For?
  Steel brings amusement and vibrancy to our lives by bringing musical tunes to our ears. Find out more about what steel is used for and how steel is dissolved into our daily lives.

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Worldsteel’s #lovesteel Campaign

In September 2013, the worldsteel launched its #lovesteel campaign for social media and worldsteel website. The #lovesteel campaign is a series of short videos that highlight working experiences in the steel industry. The series consists of interviews of people of worldsteel member companies, and their insights on exciting world of the steel industry to inspire young people who are interested in steel career.

POSCO Also Participated!

In fact, as a member company of worldsteel, POSCO was one of the participants of the campaign. The 14^th video of the series features Yerim Kim who is working in Investor Relations at POSCO. Let’s find out what inspires Yerim to work in the steel industry by watching the video below.

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