POSCO named ‘world’s most competitive steel maker’ for 6 consecutive years

POSCO has ranked first in the “world’s most competitive steel companies” that are selected by World Steel Dynamics (WSD), a global steel market analysis agency, for six consecutive years. As WSD made the list twice in 2010 and 2013, POSCO has ranked No. 1 in the rankings for eight consecutive events.

WSD announced on Tuesday the rankings of 36 steel companies worldwide by evaluating 23 items, such as production volume, profitability, technological innovation, pricing capacity, cost cutting, financial soundness, and acquisition of raw materials as of June in New York. POSCO received high marks due to its activities to boost fundamental competitiveness in steel, including sale of high value-added products and expansion of technology-based solutions, and acquired 7.91 points out of possible 10 points. POSCO was trailed by Nucor of the U.S., Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal of Japan, Gerdau of Brazil, and Severstal of Russia. Hyundai Steel of Korea has ranked ninth this year for two consecutive years.

POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon is emphasizing solution marketing as way to distinguish itself from rival firms in order to overcome the economic recession. This refers to activities to deliver products that consumers want, and provide technology that customers can most efficiently utilize, and thereby increase the value of products in the end.

“In the first quarter of this year, sales in projects that adopted solution marketing targeting industrial customers, including shipbuilding, home electronics, and construction, increased 9 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, while sales of "world premium" product group also gained 8 percent over the same period,” a POSCO source said.

yhkang@donga.com