Learn from Posco’s success

There is some good news to report regarding Korea’s gloomy economy: Posco, the world’s No. 4 steelmaker and the Korean industry leader, has built its next-generation Finex plant, which is more effective and productive than existing blast furnaces.
The Korean steel manufacturer is rewriting the history of steel making by successfully making a Finex plant that will replace old-style blast furnaces that were invented in Japan and Europe and widely used for 100 years.
While a blast furnace uses processed ore, a Finex system uses ore fines that occur in nature to produce steel.
Production costs will come down by more than 15 percent and emission of pollutants will be significantly reduced.
For this reason, global steel manufacturers tried to develop a Finex plant but failed. Posco has finally done so after 14 years. Now, the Korean company has a core technology in the steel industry.
Posco’s current annual production capacity is 30 million tons. That figure is expected to jump to 34 million tons, the second largest in the world.
The company built a steel mill in Korea in 1973 nobody believed it was possible and when some even laughed at the idea. Now the company has pulled another miracle by making the Finex plant.
Steel is like rice to industry. The competitiveness of steel defines the competitiveness of the country.
Despite Posco’s accomplishment, our steel industry is facing difficult times these days. The world’s steel companies are merging to increase competitiveness.
Netherlands-based Arcelor Mittal’s production capacity is 190 million tons. Other countries, such as China, are chasing Korea at an alarming speed. The competition for raw materials and market share is becoming fierce and the strong won is disadvantageous for Korea. We hope the successful development of the Finex plant will serve as another stepping stone for Posco. If one is complacent, one is soon surpassed by others. The company should keep working hard and invest the energy and money it gains through this achievement to help build strong support for Korea’s economy.
The government must have learned something. Private companies do better business than the government.
The government must think of what it can do to help private firms. That is the right way to help companies and the entire nation.