April 17, Vienna, Austria, HBIS Chairman Yu Yong met POSCO Holdings CEO Jeong-Woo CHOI and the parties agreed to deepen their strategic cooperation and continue to support their joint venture to complete its construction. They also discussed to strengthen their cooperation in green and low carbon development. HBIS Vice President Li Yiren, Head of POSCO Europe,Senior Executive Vice President of POSCO Daeryong HA also attended the meeting.    

Yu Yong said, in the past three years, HBIS and POSCO had overcame the difficulties brought by pandemic and kept fluent communication channels. Their cooperation in strategic planning, R&D, green and environmental protection efforts were operating very well. Particularly, the HBIS & POSCO automobile strip plant joint venture project teams have always been working closely and efficiently.  

New energy automobile industry is now on the fast track in the globe and China has become the largest producer and consumer of new energy vehicles and its market still has great potentials. HBIS & POSCO joint venture has been greatly supported by Chinese ministries, Hebei Provincial and Tangshan municipal authorities. It is a showpiece project of Green & Low Carbon supply chain, more over, it is a focus material project of new energy automobile industry. Besides economic profits, the JV will contribute even more in low carbon economy and the development of new energy automobile industry. HBIS and POSCO have always been the front runner of green and low carbon development, besides the JV, the partners will explore more in hydrogen steel making and other technologies and their industrial applications.

Jeong-Woo CHOI said HBIS was a very important partner to POSCO in globe. In Chinese market, HBIS is a highly valuable local partner to POSCO. Over the years, the global vision and futuristic concepts of HBIS has given the strategic cooperation great momentum and strength. In the construction of the JV, the project teams beat all the difficulties and pushed the project forward firmly according to the plans. In the environment of low carbon development and the transition from the traditional automobiles to electric vehicles in Chinese market, with their great cost management capabilities and low carbon technologies, the JV should have a great future. The HBIS world’s first 1.2 million ton pilot hydrogen steel making project has used many new technologies in its direct reduction of hydrogen-based shaft furnace. POSCO is willing to work with HBIS to strengthen their cooperation in hydrogen steel making technologies.