Accelerating Disposal of Low-Profit Assets Worth About 400 Billion KRW
POSCO Holdings is reportedly selling its Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel plant in China, which had been classified as a low-profit business and was being considered for restructuring, to China's Tsingshan Group.
According to industry sources on July 9, POSCO Holdings recently signed a contract to sell an 82.5% stake in Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel to Tsingshan Group for approximately 400 billion KRW. Local media outlets, including China Iron and Steel News Network, reported that senior executives from Tsingshan Group visited Seoul on July 3 and signed the contract with POSCO Holdings. They also reported that, starting July 9, an advance acquisition team from Tsingshan Group entered the Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel plant to begin the practical handover process.
Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel is a manufacturing subsidiary established in Jiangsu Province, China, in 1997. It has an annual crude steel production capacity of 1.1 million tons. After establishing a stainless cold-rolled production system with a capacity of 400,000 tons in 2003, the company completed a steelmaking and hot-rolling plant in 2006 capable of producing 600,000 tons of stainless hot-rolled coils. This marked the first time POSCO Group built an integrated stainless production facility overseas. POSCO Group holds 82.5% of the total shares, while Shagang Group, China's second-largest steelmaker, owns the remaining 17.5%.
This sale is expected to accelerate the restructuring of low-profit businesses and non-core assets that Chairman Jang Inhwa has been pursuing since taking office. The Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel plant had been classified as a low-profit asset, leading to the group-level decision to sell. The Zhangjiagang stainless business has recorded annual losses exceeding 100 billion KRW since 2023, due to delayed economic recovery in China and oversupply.
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