POSCO ponders DSME

South Korea?s POSCO Group has expressed interest in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), which is slated to go on sale around September. The world’s second-largest shipbuilder is regarded as an attractive target for POSCO as it uses nearly a million tonnes of steel plates annually to build vessels.

“Personally, I hope POSCO can remain a steelmaker with steel accounting for about 60 to 70 % of its business but we could acquire companies in other industries if it gives us synergies,” Lee said. POSCO is the world’s third-largest steelmaker.

POSCO is set to build an integrated steel mill in India, steel plants in Vietnam and processing units around the world, including in Mexico to provide steel sheets for automobiles. Groundbreaking of POSCO’s Indian mill, which the central government has not approved yet, has been delayed as it has not purchased enough land to start the construction. “Our initial plan was to complete the land purchase by April but we now expect it to be done by September,” Lee said. “If we can break ground in October, we will be able to meet the original schedule of starting production in 2010.”