Private steelmaker Dongkuk celebrates 60th anniversary

Dongkuk Steel, Korea’s first privately run steelmaker, celebrated its 60th anniversary yesterday at its Dangjin plant in South Chungcheong at the same time as the company is aiming to go global with its plant in Brazil.

CEO Nam Yun-young said that the steel mill it is building in Ceara’s Pecem Industrial Complex in Brazil is about 60 percent complete and will be finished by the third quarter of next year.

The mill will produce three million tons of steel slabs in a year once it begins commercial operation in the first half of 2016.

The plant is under construction by a consortium made up of Dongkuk and Korea’s largest steelmaker Posco, along with Vale, the world’s largest supplier of iron ore.

Dongkuk holds a 30 percent stake in the steel mill while Posco owns 20 percent.