[The Industrial Heart Beats Again] How K Company Employees Overcome COVID-19... Overcoming Crisis with 'Trust'

Interview with Cho Seung-hyun, POSCO International Uzbekistan Branch Manager
Leveraging SARS experience for proactive employee testing, hygiene kits, and fever checks
Built trust through 'quality improvement' despite remote communication during COVID-19
COVID-19 accelerated the new normal for general trading companies... actively expanding into product development, manufacturing, and sales

Seung-Hyun Cho, Deputy General Manager of POSCO International Uzbekistan Flour Subsidiary

March 2020. Amid the spread of COVID-19 and the ensuing regional lockdowns, a van bearing the POSCO logo stood out in Fergana, Uzbekistan last year.

It was the only vehicle running through the quiet city streets and nearby outskirts due to the lockdown. This van served as transportation for employees of POSCO International Uzbekistan’s local entity who could not commute to work because of movement restrictions. POSCO International Uzbekistan earned a reputation as a company that did not shut down despite the regional lockdown at that time.

Cho Seung-hyun, Managing Director (Executive Director) of POSCO International Uzbekistan, recalled, "Most nearby production sites were shut down, so there was an urgent need to prevent that here. We explained well that we had contributed to and grown with the local community for 25 years and requested permission to travel. Fortunately, the governor responded positively, allowing us to avoid a shutdown crisis."

Through these experiences last year, Managing Director Cho reaffirmed the importance of ‘trust,’ a core value of a trading professional (trader + man). In particular, to reduce employees’ fears and enable them to work, he leveraged experience from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak by conducting comprehensive testing of all employees, distributing hygiene kits, and performing temperature checks by time slots. Cho said, "The greatest risk to corporate operations was not the infected individuals themselves but the employees’ fear of infection. During COVID-19, proactive measures and employee-centered responses helped build trust with our staff."

In an era of lockdowns and closures, new business had to be conducted remotely. Despite the challenges of communicating via email and phone, POSCO International Uzbekistan regarded improvements in raw materials and product quality as another form of trust, securing over 30 new contracts including supplying the U.S. apparel market. Turning crisis into opportunity, POSCO International Uzbekistan recorded an operating profit of $8 million (approximately 8.9 billion KRW) in the first quarter of this year, surpassing last year’s operating profit of $4.4 million (approximately 5.2 billion KRW) within just one quarter.

Comprehensive trading companies, now stretching their limbs after COVID-19, are accelerating the new normal by expanding beyond brokerage and trade to directly developing, manufacturing, and selling products through their global networks.

POSCO International, which entered the production of electric vehicle drive motor cores through its subsidiaries, has set a goal to expand grain handling volume from the current 8 million tons to 25 million tons by 2030, aiming to achieve related sales of 10 trillion KRW as the importance of food security rises.

Samsung C&T is actively leveraging its successful experience in renewable energy projects in Ontario, Canada, aligned with the global eco-friendly trend. Especially in the U.S. solar market, it is focusing on new asset development by utilizing its strengths in planning, information, and agility as a trading company. A Samsung C&T official explained, "This year, we are concentrating on solar project development in regions such as California and Texas in the U.S., while expanding business in North American areas like Georgia and Illinois, planning to enter new markets."

LX Trading also plans to enhance profitability and market responsiveness by maximizing management efficiency and advancing its business structure starting this year, securing new growth engines centered on secondary batteries, healthcare, and eco-friendly sectors.