POSCO chief, Australia PM discuss eco-friendly projects

POSCO Group will invest a total of $40 billion with local partners in Australia by 2040, the company announced, Thursday.

The investment comes as Chairman Choi Jeong-woo met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Houses of Parliament in Canberra, the capital of Australia, “We see Australia as the most important country for investment to secure hydrogen, which is essential for hydrogen reduction steelmaking,” Choi said.

POSCO Group is working hard to develop hydrogen reduction steel that emits water instead of carbon dioxide during production to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. POSCO Group plans to produce green hydrogen based on competitive

large-scale renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power in Australia, and use it to produce hot briquetted iron (HBI), a raw material processed from iron ore.

“POSCO Group’s business and investment plans in Australia are in line with the policy direction pursued by the Australian government. We will cooperate with POSCO Group’s eco-friendly future materials business in Australia,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

In addition, POSCO plans to expand the use of green hydrogen to the production of slabs, a semi-finished steel product, by applying HyREX, a hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology. It is also drawing a blueprint to use ammonia produced in Australia for manufacturing green hydrogen.

Together with local partners, POSCO Group plans to invest $28 billion in hydrogen production, including renewable energy and water electrolysis, and $12 billion in green steel by 2040.