POSCO to invest $359 mil. in automotive steel plant by 2028

Korean steelmaker POSCO said Tuesday it will invest 480 billion won ($359 million) to build an automotive steel plant as it seeks to expand its high-end steel products business. The plant, which POSCO plans to complete by 2028, will have an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons of hot-dip galvanized steel for automotive outer panels, the company said in a press release. The facility will be POSCO's eighth continuous galvanizing line (CGL) at its integrated steel mill in Gwangyang, 360 kilometers south of Seoul, adding to seven existing lines, it said. "This is a strategic investment aimed at strengthening our future competitiveness amid a rapidly changing global steel ecosystem. The (new) automotive facility would help the company compete with its rivals in terms of manufacturing costs and technological prowess," POSCO President Lee Hee-geun said in the release. The seven existing CGLs have a combined annual output capacity of 4.5 million tons. The new line will increase POSCO's total annual capacity for hot-dip galvanized steel to 4.95 million tons, the company said. Hot-dip galvani