POSCO hosts a technological exchange event with KOBE Steel

Dec. 10, 2010 - The Ironmaking Department of Pohang Works hosted a technological exchange event with its counterpart at KOBE Steel, the third largest steelmaker in Japan, for two days from November 30th 2010.
Taking into consideration that POSCO depends too much on its strategic relationship with NSC, Japan's No 1 steel company, the event to establish a partnership with another Japanese steelmaker took place at the Pohang and the Gwangyang Ironmaking Departments, respectively, on November 30th 2010 and December 1st 2010.
On the second day, the two companies' representatives had in depth discussions about a wide range of technical issues they are involved in. The event featured eight KOBE Steel officials specializing in steel manufacturing and continuous casting and refractory.
Mr Fukuzaki Yoshio and Mr Horkawa Kenichi, senior managers of ironmaking at the company's KOBE and Kakogawa Works, respectively, took part. The two parties shared information on production capacities and facilities. They also shared their insight on detailed work processes to secure a higher level of quality and productivity.
Before the event, they compared systematic differences and exchanged opinions about how to upgrade their systems through a Q&A session. They also opened up with each other about recent business trends in each country's steel industry, as well as new technologies in manufacturing processes, such as preparation processing, converting, refining and continuous casting.
During the Q&A session, KOBE Steel raised a question about POSCO's advanced continuous casting skills to guarantee the highest possible quality of its steel sheet and plate products, while POSCO asked KOBE about the Japanese company's know how in steel manufacturing in general, as well as its strategy to keep the quality of its wire products for which the company is best known as high as possible.
The participants agreed that POSCO is not far behind its Japanese competitors in terms of technology. They expressed concerns about the rapid growth of the Chinese steel industry, and ever-increasing raw material prices that are threatening to worsen the two companies` business results in years to come. Based on the realization, they both agreed to work closely with each other to lower costs and increase the level of efficiency to produce the world's top quality steel products.