Hyundai Steel Expands Dangjin Mill

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--On March 31, Hyundai Steel Company Limited (SEO:004020) (Incheon, South Korea), an affiliate of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, whose de facto representative is Hyundai Motor Company (SEO:005380) (Seoul, South Korea), celebrated the opening of its first steel mill in Dangjin, South Korea, 90 kilometers south of Seoul, in the South Chungcheon province. The Dangjin mill, which houses the nation's largest blast furnace, is utilizing state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly technology to produce 4 million metric tons of steel per year.

While the first blast furnace was under construction, Hyundai Steel began construction of the mill's US$3 billion Phase II, which involves the installation of a second blast furnace to increase production capacity by 4 million metric tons annually. Phase II is scheduled to be completed next September. Last November, Hyundai Steel began an economic evaluation of a Phase III expansion and is expected to continue the evaluation through the completion of the second blast furnace. After the evaluation is complete and approvals for expenditures are obtained, Hyundai Steel plans to construct a third US$2.4 billion blast furnace at the Dangjin site, to max out the production capacity at 12 million metric tons of steel per year.

Up until now, Hyundai has had to rely on Pohang Iron and Steel Company (SEO:005490) (POSCO) (Pohang, South Korea) for steel to be used in vehicle production. A stable supply of steel from the Dangjin mill will greatly reduce reliance on POSCO and will boost Hyundai Steel into the world's top 10 steel producers. With the opening of the Dangjin mill, Hyundai Steel hopes to strengthen national competition by resolving the domestic steel shortage, and facilitate technological developments in the steel industry. Hyundai Steel is being hailed as a leader in "green steel" technology by being the first to utilize an air-tight conveyor belt system that prevents the loss of raw materials and the escape of pollutants.

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