POSCO Group chairman to lead World Steel Association
POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, left, who was appointed chairman of the World Steel Association on Tuesday (local time), shakes hands with his predecessor, Jindal Steel Works Chairman Sajjan Jindal, during the association's general assembly in Brussels earlier this week. Courtesy of POSCO Group
By Park Jae-hyuk
POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo was appointed as the 44th chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) during its general assembly on Tuesday (local time) in Brussels, the group said Wednesday.
Choi will represent the global steel industry, along with the association's two vice chairmen, India's Jindal Steel Works Chairman Sajjan Jindal and America's Nucor CEO Leon Topalian.
The association's three executive directors take turns as chairman and vice chairmen for three years. Choi had been serving as a vice chairman of worldsteel after his appointment last October as an executive director.
This is the fourth time for POSCO Group to chair worldsteel.
“Steel will be the key for eco-friendly and futuristic materials,” Choi said. “For this, I will make efforts for all steelmakers to work together to commercialize hydrogen-based ironmaking and cope with various challenges facing the industry, such as carbon neutrality and ESG management.”
During the general assembly, POSCO Group's steelmaking subsidiary POSCO also received the Innovation of the Year award for its use of alternating current for the faster pickling of stainless steel and the Excellence in Sustainability award for its use of shells in steelmaking.
The steelmaker's Smart Safety Ball, which detects harmful gases, was also certified as an excellent safety device. The 100-gram ball, which is 60 millimeters in diameter, can detect oxygen, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide, helping workers to avoid gas poisoning by throwing the ball into detect densities of gases in sealed workplaces.
Earnings down due to flooding in Pohang
A day after Choi was inaugurated as head of worldsteel, POSCO Group's holding company POSCO Holdings announced that its third-quarter operating profit is estimated at 900 billion won ($634 million), down 71 percent from a year earlier. Its third-quarter revenue is expected to be 21.2 trillion won, up 2.9 percent year-on-year.
The estimated operating profit was lower than the market consensus.
POSCO Holdings said its operating profit seems to be around 440 billion won lower than what was initially expected, due to the operating loss and temporary costs resulting from the production suspension at its Pohang steel mill in North Gyeongsang Province, after Typhoon Hinnamnor caused flooding there.
The company plans to announce its full earnings report next Monday.