POSCO Plans Steel Price Hike
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
POSCO said at its annual shareholders meeting Friday that it plans to raise steel prices sometime in April, citing a hike in raw material prices.
``The price adjustment is necessary, but we are still discussing how much the jump will be,'' CEO Lee Ku-taek told reporters at the company's Seoul headquarters.
POSCO earlier this week agreed to pay Brazilian mining giant Vale 65 percent more for iron ore starting April 1. Iron ore is a key ingredient to making steel, and the new price hike ― about a five-fold increase since 2001 ― is expected to lead to higher car, ship and building costs.
On the stalemated 12 million-ton-capacity steel plant in India, Lee said the expected groundbreaking date of April will be delayed to later this year. The project, if completed, will be India's largest foreign investment project.
Lee said the world's fourth-largest steel maker said times are tough for large-scale investments, but added that it will still continue to seek strategic opportunities.
The company is targeting annual revenue of 34 trillion won and a 15 percent higher operating profit of 5.6 trillion won for 2008.
POSCO also announced 16-person reshuffle, including new additions to its executive board.
Chairman of Deloitte Korea Jun Kwang-woo was appointed as chairman of the board.
Senior Executive Vice President Choi Jong-tae was promoted to board member, while chairman of AhnLab Charles Ahn and Nongshim Chairman Sun Wook were reappointed as outside directors.
In the executive officer lineup, Executive Vice President Chung Keel-sou was bumped up to senior executive vice president, overseeing the stainless steel division. Likewise, Hur Nam-suk was also promoted to senior vice president, heading the steel maker's Gwangyang Works.
Among other appointments, Senior Vice Presidents Kim Sang-young and Kim Soo-kwan were both promoted to executive vice presidents.
In the meantime, CEO Lee and President Yoon seok-man were guaranteed another three-year tenure at last year's shareholder's meeting.