Kim Kyung-Han: I’m from the international trade affairs office. I’d like to address your question about how to substitute imports. So all global steelmakers are experiencing the oversupply, and they’re also concerned about how to meet carbon neutrality goals. So these are 2 main goals that need to be addressed. China produces about 50% of all crude steel produced in the world. And in 2020 — up to now, they have been exporting much of that volume or actually increasing exports, which is inevitable. And so the question is, will they continue that trend this year? And that I think depends on the stimulus package that the Chinese government is rolling out and the impact of that, if it has the positive impact that we’re hoping for, then I think imports will go down.
But from a domestic perspective, all local steelmakers, for example, in the United States, steelmakers use Trade Expansion Act Section 232 to impose tariffs. And India, Brazil, Thailand and Indonesia, these emerging economies are also putting in place non-tariff measures to restrain imports. So there are a lot of retaliatory measures that are being put in place. But still it’s a primary material that is indispensable to infrastructure building as well as just human societies. Compared to other countries, our import restrictions are not high and — because we have a very strong manufacturing base. We believe that we do need to prepare for these imports coming in from other countries. So is this a market — a temporary market situation resulting from oversupply or is this something that is going to be more permanent and something that we need to address more permanently in the Korean market?
We need to protect our crude steel industry. And with that in mind, at the moment, we will keep all options open and address each issue to our country’s advantage. But I think there’s some misunderstanding. I think most people believe that POSCO is a big company. It’s going to block all imports. Low-cost imports come in and damage some of our industries. So this would be the basis for which we will be fighting some of the imports for no other reason.
Ban Don-ho: I’m with marketing strategy. The overseas market status as well as the acquisition of U.S. Steel by NSC and sales projections for 2024 is what I will address. So overseas investments. So we want to go beyond our growth in the local market and to hold on to our global position as a global top 3, we will be devising strategies, which will also involve investments that will be made in India, not only the ones that have already been planned but others as well. So let me address some of those. Through PTKP in Indonesia, we have made inroads into that market already. PTKP in the future will become one of the very few, if not the unique automotive steel sheets manufacturer in Southeast Asia — South Asia, that is. And not just that, that 10 million is planned to be produced in eco-friendly manner in — through decarbonized steelmaking process.
One of the most active markets is India. And in India, we will be seeking additional opportunities to invest. To mitigate business risk, we are in discussions with a trustworthy partner on building an integrated mill. NSC’s acquisition of U.S. Steel in December last year, $15 billion was the valuation. But what I understand is in the Biden administration, there is an overseas investment consultation committee that is looking at this and unions are objecting to this. And to enhance steelmaking competitiveness in the United States, some of the U.S. population are cheering this decision. So I think we need to wait and see. POSCO and NSC’s business strategies differ a little bit. NSC has felt the limitations of its local market. So they want to continue to grow their size by investing overseas.
On the other hand, POSCO, as you’re aware, we want to be able to strengthen our core quality. So we’ve expanded our portfolio of future strategies. And when you look at the revenue of the 2 companies, I think it gives you some hints about our strategic direction. About 88% is the overseas market for Japan and 51% for Korea. And there are a lot more trade barriers in the U.S. market. And so they impose tariffs, and we are exporting only based — within the threshold that hold of that quota and tariffs. So we will continue to monitor whether NSC is able to acquire U.S. Steel through government approval. And we will continue to check and to address issues in the U.S. market. Sales volume last year was about 34 million tonnes. We completely recovered from the aftermath of Typhoon Hinnamnor.
So we hit our goal. But looking at and considering the different market circumstances, it may be difficult for us to set higher goals in crude steel production. So I think 33 million tonnes is what we will target this year. Thank you.
A – Unidentified CompanyRepresentative : I’m in charge of corporate strategy. Let me speak a little bit about CapEx strategy. We plan this every year. And so I want to tell you that this year is similar to last year. Overall, it will be about KRW 8 trillion consolidated basis by each business. We can look at steel and battery materials. And so the 2 are neck and neck in terms of the investment volume or value, about KRW 3 trillion each. And this year’s investment plans, whether it’s in steel or battery materials, our CapEx will increase this year for each business. In steel, we need to brace for carbon net zero decarbonization. So some of our larger investments will begin this year. In battery materials as well, because we have expanded orders, we will be building out more, and that means more CapEx. So at the end of last year, beginning of this year, looking at the economic situation, there are a lot of uncertainties.
