Hyundai Steel's 3rd Blast Furnace

Construction launched on new blast furnace with annual output capacity of
4 mln tons of steel plates

A scene from a ceremony to kick off the construction of the 3rd blast furnace at Hyundai Steel's complex in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province on April 12 with a slew of dignitaries led by Vice Chairman Park Seung-ha of Hyundai Steel.

Hyundai Steel Co. launched the construction of its third blast furnace at its Dangjin Steel Complex in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, on April 12 in a ceremony led by Vice Chairman Park Seung-ha, along with some 400 guests, officials and staff of the steel plant. Chairman Chung Mong-koo visited the steel plant last month to check on the preparations for the construction of the new blast furnace.
The steel mill will invest some 3.25 trillion won into the new blast furnace slated for completion in September 2013 with a projected annual capacity of 4 million tons of steel plates. The Dangjin steel plant's steel production capacity will be hiked to 24 million tons annually when the new blast furnace comes online including 12 million tons of steel plates per year mainly for the construction and automobile industries.
The steel plant put online its first and second blast furnaces last year to bring its annual output of steel plates to 8 million tons. The decision to build the third furnace is directly related to Chairman Chung's satisfaction with the operations of the first two furnaces, which turned a profit in the first year of their operation, an unprecedented feat in the history of the steel industry in Korea.
The two blast furnaces produce hot-coil steel plates for the electronics and machinery industries. Crude steel produced by the first blast furnace is used to produce 2.5 million tons of hot-coil steel and 1.5 million tons of steel plates used by the shipbuilding industry.
Chairman Chung is said to have been highly encouraged by the successful operation of the two blast furnaces, leading him to select Hyundai Hysco to build the third blast furnace to produce steel plates used by the auto industry and supplied to Hyundai and Kia Motors, forming a vertical line of cooperation involving the three major affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group. The steel products will also be supplied to Hyundai Construction, which recently joined the group, creating strong synergy among the affiliates.
A projected 500,000 tons of steel plates will be supplied to the construction affiliate. Chairman Chung dreamt about building an integrated steel plant in the Dangjin Industrial Complex when the group took over Hanbo Steel Co., an electric furnace steel maker, in 2004, and his dream has been realized with room to spare.
Chung, at a meeting with key executives of the group, said construction, auto and steel will be core segments of the group's future growth engines and, in particular, construction will become a top global one representing Korean industry, a highly value-added sector in the areas of engineering, management and planning capability. Hyundai Construction needs high-quality steel in undertaking overseas projects, requiring close cooperation with Hyundai Steel in producing beams and steel plates, among the diverse steel products required in the construction industry.
A Hyundai Steel official said a synergy with Hyundai Construction will be created when the third blast furnace comes online in 2013, as Hyundai Steel will get involved from the early stages of securing overseas projects in order to supply special steel products needed for the new projects under its Early Vendor Involvement strategy.
Hyundai Steel is set to supply steel products to Hyundai Construction for its nuclear and wind power plant projects, including H-beams, steel alloy, steel plates and other diverse steel products. nw


Photo by courtesy of Hyundai Steel