South Korean steelmaker POSCO is looking to expand its automotive steel business in the US by setting up a technical centre in Detroit this year.
The decision to increase its focus on the US automotive steel market follows a statement by group chairman Kwon Oh-joon last month underlining the importance of the automotive steel sector to the company’s profitability. Automotive steel has become the biggest contributor to the group’s bottom line.
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The new technical centre will focus on expanding the group’s business with the US Big Three automakers which have most of the production operations located in Detroit.
Posco produced 8.3m tons of automotive steel plate worldwide last year, to claim third place behind India’s ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation.
Posco is facing greater competition in its home market from Hyundai Steel which is driving the group to increase its sales in overseas markets. Posco now generates around 70% of its automotive steel revenue from overseas clients, including General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota.
