[New Year's Address] Hyundai Steel CEO Lee Boryong: "Strengthening Automotive Steel, Carbon Reduction, and Long Steel Products"

Lee Boryong, CEO and President of Hyundai Steel, delivered his first New Year's address since taking office, outlining strategies to overcome the challenging business environment caused by the steel industry downturn and rising protectionism. He emphasized strengthening the competitiveness of automotive steel sheets, carbon reduction products, and long and shaped steel products as key strategies.

Profile photo of Lee Boryong, President of Hyundai Steel. Photo by The Asia Business Daily Database

On January 5, in his New Year's address, Lee stated, "We have faced a relentless wave of unprecedented crises, including a historic downturn in the steel market, intensifying protectionism worldwide, the burden of high exchange rates, and stricter environmental and labor regulations." He declared, "We will make 2026 the inaugural year of leading the future steel industry." As this year's business strategies, he presented: ▲ strengthening sales of automotive steel sheets, ▲ expanding sales of carbon reduction products, and ▲ enhancing the competitiveness of long and shaped steel products.

Lee said, "Based on our experience supplying high-quality automotive steel sheets to key customers, we must strengthen integrated sales synergies and, through this, establish an even more robust global sales system."

He also emphasized, "2026 marks a critical turning point as Hyundai Steel transitions in earnest to a carbon-reducing steel production system. With the full-scale operation of the electric furnace-blast furnace hybrid process, we must establish a mass production system for carbon reduction products, achieve early stabilization and optimization of operations, and enhance our production and sales capabilities through the development of carbon footprint (CFP) reduction technologies."

Additionally, Lee addressed the challenges in securing profitability for long and shaped steel products due to the sluggish construction market, stating, "We must improve facility operation efficiency and actively pursue automation and unmanned systems. At the same time, by securing productivity and cost competitiveness across all areas of industrial steel, we must further solidify our position as a leading innovator in construction steel."

In conclusion, Lee urged, "Company-wide, we must establish a field-oriented safety execution system and spread a culture of ethical and autonomous compliance. By strengthening education and self-inspection, we should establish a transparent management system and further enhance our field-based risk response capabilities."