In December 2024, Hyundai Steel has temporarily stopped its plan to close its No. 2 steel plant in Pohang, South Korea, amid strong opposition from the South Korean government and local unions. This decision has complicated the current operational challenges faced by Hyundai Steel, and the company stressed that it will continue negotiations to ensure the stability of employment for existing employees.
In November 2024, Hyundai Steel said it was considering closing its No. 2 steel plant in Pohang, which has an annual crude steel production capacity of 1 million tons and a rolling capacity of 700,000 tons of small steel sections for construction.
According to local media reports, the plant’s steel production has dropped from 680,000 tons in 2022 to 510,000 tons in 2024, and its rolled product output has dropped from 390,000 tons to 230,000 tons, while its operating days have been shortened from 304 days to 228 days. As a result, the plant’s manufacturing costs have increased from 990,000 won per ton (about $732 per ton) in 2022 to 1.13 million won per ton (about $768 per ton) in 2024.
Hyundai Steel said that South Korea’s ongoing economic recession has put the country’s construction industry, which has been a major consumer of steel products, at a disadvantage. Faced with these challenges, Hyundai Steel is working to improve its competitiveness by meeting the growing demand for high-value-added steel products and developing carbon reduction solutions. The mayor of Pohang has publicly discussed the sustainability challenges and solutions facing the country’s steel industry, advocating measures to help South Korean steelmakers cope with the crisis. These measures include subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises, lower industrial electricity prices, and expedited processing of anti-dumping cases.
