POSCO Holds '2024 Sustainable Materials Forum' with Customers

A view of the 2024 Sustainable Materials Forum held at COEX, Seoul on the 8th. Photo by POSCO

POSCO announced on the 8th that it held the '2024 Sustainable Materials Forum' on the 7th at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul.

This forum is POSCO's customer invitation event, now in its 7th edition. It has been held biennially since 2010, and this year, reflecting POSCO Group's new management vision, it was held over three days under the name 'Sustainable Materials Forum.'

This year, under the theme 'Materials Opening a Sustainable Future, Innovation with Customers,' about 1,000 attendees from over 500 domestic and international customer companies leading key industries such as automotive, shipbuilding, energy, construction, and home appliances?including Hyundai Motor Company, Toyota, Honda, Hanwha Ocean, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics?participated, making the event a great success.

Siwoo Lee, CEO of POSCO, expressed his welcome, introducing the '2024 Sustainable Materials Forum' and repeatedly thanking customers for their unwavering support. He stated, "POSCO Group prioritizes the growth of our customers and will do its best to remain a steadfast success partner in the future."

This year’s forum departed from the traditional industry-specific lectures and was composed of a carefully selected total of 16 lectures covering broad thematic areas such as industrial economic outlook, ESG (environment, social, governance), artificial intelligence (AI), as well as sessions specialized in the steel and secondary battery materials industries.

The keynote lecture was delivered by Ross Dawson, a world-renowned futurist and bestselling author, on 'Corporate Innovation for a Sustainable Future.' Following this, Professor Il Son of Yonsei University and Professor Inho Jung of Seoul National University gave lectures on 'Low-Carbon Steel: Challenges and Opportunities,' and Professor Daniel Lee of Cornell University spoke on 'AI Technology and the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing,' exploring the crises and opportunities facing manufacturing and presenting survival strategies for the future.

In particular, this forum included a 'MEET UP Program' to support customer success from the perspective of mutual growth, providing a platform for networking among participating customer companies. This facilitated communication between companies in the same industry and interested sectors, creating opportunities to generate new business.

Additionally, moving away from the traditional exhibition format focused on introducing POSCO’s technologies and products, exhibition booths were set up to promote customers’ products, attracting strong participation from 44 companies. Furthermore, to enhance communication with customers, not only sales staff who interact directly with customers but also about 100 engineers from the Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks attended, increasing overall satisfaction.

On the final day, the 9th, a tour program of the Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks was conducted for overseas customers, allowing them to witness firsthand the production of the products they purchase. A cultural experience program in Seoul, including a visit to the Blue House, was also held.