Choi Jung-woo Discusses Cooperation Plans for Eco-friendly Future Projects with Australian Prime Minister

POSCO to Invest $40 Billion with Local Partners by 2040
Albany Governor of Australia "Actively Cooperating with POSCO Group's Business"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Choi Jeong-woo, Chairman of POSCO (POSCO Holdings) Group, met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss cooperation plans for eco-friendly future businesses.

On the 1st (local time), Chairman Choi held a meeting with Prime Minister Albanese at the Parliament House located in Canberra, Australia.

The meeting was arranged for Chairman Choi to explain POSCO Group's current business status in Australia and future investment plans to Prime Minister Albanese, aiming to secure active cooperation from the Australian government. Chairman Choi attended the 43rd Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee held in Sydney on the 30th of last month as the Korean side chairman.

Chairman Choi stated, "POSCO Group has declared carbon neutrality by 2050 to respond to climate change and is dedicated to developing hydrogen reduction steelmaking that emits water instead of carbon dioxide during steel production," adding, "We regard Australia as the most important investment target country to secure hydrogen essential for hydrogen reduction steelmaking."

He continued, "We plan to further expand the investment fields and scale in Australia, not only in existing steel raw materials but also in renewable energy, hydrogen, and green steel," expressing strong commitment to Australian business.

POSCO Group plans to produce green hydrogen based on competitive large-scale renewable energy such as solar and wind power, and produce raw materials (HBI) processed from iron ore based on this. Additionally, applying POSCO's proprietary hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology HyREX, the production will expand to steel semi-finished products such as slabs, and green hydrogen produced in Australia will be manufactured into ammonia and supplied worldwide.

To this end, POSCO Group plans to invest a total of $40 billion by 2040, including $28 billion in renewable energy and hydrogen production fields such as water electrolysis with local partners, and $12 billion in the green steel sector.

In response, Prime Minister Albanese said, "POSCO Group's business and investment plans in Australia align with the policy directions pursued by the Australian government," and added, "We will actively cooperate with POSCO Group's eco-friendly future materials business in Australia."

Chairman Choi then requested Prime Minister Albanese to visit Korea and POSCO to accelerate business cooperation between Korea and Australia, to which Prime Minister Albanese replied, "I will visit POSCO during my planned visit to Korea next year. I also definitely want to visit POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solutions, a lithium production plant jointly established by Australian companies and POSCO Holdings."

Meanwhile, Chairman Choi attended the Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee held face-to-face for the first time in three years as chairman, leading discussions between the two countries in various fields such as strategic mineral cooperation, defense industry, infrastructure, and hydrogen energy.