Better Than Expected
POSCO and Hyundai Steel, the two most prominent companies in the local steel industry, performed better than expected in 2014, despite oversupply in the global market and inflows of low-priced steel from China.
POSCO showed an upward trend in operating profits from the fourth quarter of 2013 to Q3 2014. Hyundai Steel also strengthened its position in the global market by recording 1.44 trillion won (US$1.32 billion) in operating profits last year. This is the second time for the company to achieve the figure after 2012.
POSCO announced on Jan. 29 that it turned over 65.984 trillion won (US$60.2 billion) last year, thanks to its solution marketing. The steel giant posted 3.2135 trillion won (US$2.9393 billion) in operating profits and 556.6 billion won (US$509.1 million) in net profits. Compared to 2013, its sales and operating profits in 2014 increased by 5.2 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. However, its net profits decreased 58.9 percent year-on-year.
Hyundai Steel's operating profits surpassed 1 trillion won (US$914 million) in 2014, a year-on-year-gain of 100.9 percent. The gain was helped by a decline in raw material prices, the full operation of the 3rd Dangjin ironworks blast furnace, and the merger of its cold rolled steel business. The firm's operating profit margin was 9.0 percent last year, up 3.4 percent from 2013.