POSCO will export its new iron-making technology FINEX to overseas markets. The technology has been developed by the company in cooperation with Siemens VAI, and has remained mostly proprietary.

POSCO announced on May 27 that it received the final approval from the Chinese government on May 22 to construct an integrated steel mill with an annual production capacity of 3 million tons in Chongqing using its new FINEX technology in a joint project. The company had constructed an integrated steel mill for blast furnaces in Indonesia, but it is the first time to build a steel mill using FINEX overseas.

After signing an MOU with local steelmaker Chongqing Iron & Steel in Sept. 2013 to construct a FINEX steel mill, POSCO waited for the approval from the Chinese government. With the ratification, both companies will proceed with a review and negotiation on detailed business conditions. Also, the two will establish concrete investment measures after thoroughly examining the business conditions in consideration of the change of the international steel market conditions.

Based on the entry into the Chinese market this time, POSCO plans to export its FINEX technology to overseas markets in earnest. Following China, the company signed an MOU with India’s steelmaker Mesco Steel in March to sell its FINEX 1 plant in Pohang with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons. It is said that Vietnam, Malaysia, and Iran are also hoping to adopt the FINEX technology. An official from POSCO said, “We are planning to establish specific investment measures after thoroughly reviewing the business conditions as well as the change of the international steel market conditions.”

FINEX is a new iron-making technology developed by POSCO, which invested more than 300 billion won (US$271.54) in R&D costs from 1992. Its molten iron is produced directly, using iron ore fines and non-coking coal without the preliminary treatment process of the raw materials, unlike the traditional blast furnace methods that require sintering and coke processes that make iron ore fines and non-coking coal solid. This is why the technology can reduce equipment investments and processing costs, as well as environmental pollutant emissions.

 

businesskorea.co.kr

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