POSCO to focus on cost reduction

By Kang Seung-woo

POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang has called on the company’s affiliates to place top priority on cost reduction and risk diversification as part of efforts to streamline operations.

According to the nation’s steel giant Sunday, Chung recently held a management meeting with heads of 27 affiliated firms, including Daewoo International and POSCO Engineering and Construction, and ask them to seek ways to reduce costs.

“As investors will beef up their investment next year, we need to develop risk management, reflecting the scale and time of the investment, for better efficiency and stability,” Chung said during the meeting.

“Cost reductions can be achieved anywhere, so we need to seek a variety of ways to cut expenses.”

He also said, “As investment companies have grown they can be vulnerable to unexpected risks, so we need to come up with counteractions.”

Chung, 62, said that more efforts should be placed on maximizing the effect of sharing information among affiliates.

“We should come up with ways to take advantage of data exchange among companies we have invested in,” he said. “Departments dealing with information should expand their capacity for information processing.”

“Amid increasing economic uncertainty, Chung has urged the affiliates to brace for potential risks with thorough business strategies and cost saving plans,” said an official familiar with the issue.