Hyundai Steel participated in Steel & Metal Korea (SMK) 2023, the largest steel and non-ferrous metal industry exhibition in Korea, held at Daegu’s EXCO from October 11 to 13.
At the event, the company presented its detailed carbon-neutral roadmap, “Pathway to Green Steel,” announced in April this year, which is organized into three sections: “Carbon-Neutral Roadmap,” “Electric Furnace-Blast Furnace Hybrid Process,” and “Brand.”
As part of the first section of “Pathway to Green Steel,” Hyundai Steel presented key strategies for carbon-neutrality and presented a tangible model of HY-Cube technology, which utilizes new electric furnaces. This model helped the audience better understand the concepts outlined in the company’s carbon-neutral roadmap, announced in April, which aims to reduce direct and indirect emissions by 12% by 2030 as part of Hyundai Steel’s overarching efforts to achieve Net-Zero by 2050. Hyundai Steel has also made other efforts to secure new growth drivers and is focusing on becoming a sustainable and eco-friendly steel company.
As part of the second section of the presentation, the steelmaker visually portrayed specific strategies for its “Electric Furnace-Blast Furnace Hybrid Process” and further emphasized its technological prowess by showcasing the prototype of the side outer panel of Hyundai Motors’ KONA SUV, developed using in-house technology.
The Electric Furnace-Blast Furnace Hybrid Process is a carbon-neutral strategy based on the company’s unique electric furnace technology and a production system that can manufacture low-carbon, high-strength automotive steel while maintaining the quality of blast furnace products. Hyundai Steel is actively pushing forward its transition into an Electric Furnace-Blast Furnace Hybrid Process by 2030 through investments in electric furnace technology at Dangjin Integrated Steelworks.
Section 3 of the presentation, focusing on company brand, introduced three major brands aimed at building a sustainable eco-friendly steel company: H Core, a premium construction steel brand; H-SOLUTION, a comprehensive automotive brand; and HyECOsteel, a low-carbon, eco-friendly product. Of these, HyECOsteel, a low-carbon streel brand introduced in conjunction with the announcement of this year’s carbon-neutral roadmap, particularly embodies the company’s aspirations to connect nature and people and create a sustainable future.
In addition to Hyundai Steel President & CEO An Tong-il, the event was also attended by: Lee Dal-hee, the Vice Governor for Economic Planning for Gyeongsanbuk Province; the Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy; the Vice Chairperson of Gyeongsangbuk-do Council; and the CEO of EXCO. Later, event attendees took a guided tour of major exhibition booths and enjoyed a luncheon together.
The SMK 2023, which celebrated its 7th anniversary, first began in 2010 and has since been held every two years, becoming the largest steel and non-ferrous metal industry exhibition in Korea. This year’s exhibition was hosted by Gyeongsangbuk Province, Pohang, Korea Iron & Steel Association, and Korea Nonferrous Metal Association, and sponsored by over 40 organizations including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
SMK 2023, held in Gyeongsangbuk Province, the epicenter of Korea’s steel and nonferrous metal industries and its host organization, was designated as a Global Top Exhibition by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and was selected for a KOTRA joint project. The event, which featured an international conference and export consultation sessions, was the largest to date with 200 participating companies and 600 booths.