Hyundai Steel aims to cut carbon emissions by 12% by 2030

Hyundai Steel CEO An Tong-il presents the company's "Carbon Neutrality Roadmap" in a video uploaded on Wednesday. [HYUNDAI STEEL]

Hyundai Steel is aiming to cut its carbon emissions by 12 percent by 2030, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero by 2050.

These were just a few of the visions the steelmaker's CEO An Tong-il announced Wednesday, emphasizing that carbon neutrality is "not a choice but a necessity" as it faces global environmental regulations from economies such as the European Union and the United States.

"Our ultimate goal is to produce high-quality automotive steel while lowering carbon emissions in each phase and maintaining the same quality equivalent to products currently being produced in our blast furnaces," An said in a video announcement Wednesday.

In the first phase, the company intends to utilize its existing electric arc furnace for pre-melting low-carbon molten iron and then mixing into a basic oxygen furnace.

In the second stage, the company will introduce a new electric arc furnace and present a system that produces steel products that emit around 40 percent less carbon than current levels by 2030.

This new electric furnace will incorporate the company's own low-carbon steel production system, called Hy-Cube technology. Hy-Cube technology is a process developed by Hyundai Steel that combines different types of iron and carbon to produce high-quality steel products while minimizing carbon emissions.

Hyundai Steel will market these low-carbon products under the brand name "HyECOsteel," and they will be supplied to major global customers.

On Wednesday, the steelmaker reported a net profit of 217.8 billion won ($162.9 million) in the first quarter of 2023, a decrease by 55.4 percent from the same period last year.

Sales for the quarter dropped by 8.5 percent on year to 6.38 trillion won, while the operating profit took a bigger hit, declining by 52.1 percent to 333.9 billion won.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]