POSCO begins full-scale operation of cost-effective furnace 상세내용
Subject
POSCO begins full-scale operation of cost-effective furnace
date
2007-06-07 00:00:00
일반게시판
내용
POSCO, the worlds fourth-largest steelmaker, said Wednesday (May 30) it has begun the commercial operation of a next-generation furnace that can sharply curtail production costs.
The Finex furnace, built at its Pohang mill at a cost of 1.06 trillion won (1.14 billion), has an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons, POSCO said. It can produce steel at costs about 20 percent less than regular blast furnaces and is more environmentally friendly, the company said.
POSCO and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy spent 58.2 billion won from 1990 to 2000 to develop the technology, and it took another seven years to set up a viable system of mass production.
POSCO, which began steel production in 1973 in the port city of Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, claims that Finex is the only true technological leap made in the last 100 years to overcome shortcomings of blast furnaces. The Finex process is an iron making technology developed by Siemens and POSCO.
Unlike existing furnaces, the Finex system is considered revolutionary because it does away with the need to build separate sintering or coking plants. These facilities trans fine, powder-like iron and bituminous coal into lumps that are fed into conventional furnaces.
The new process allows for direct use of fine iron ore and regular coal powder, the POSCO official said. He said 80 percent of natural iron ore is in a powder-like state, and regular coal is 20 percent cheaper than the bituminous type used to make coking coal.
Full operation of the Finex line brings the number of domestic furnaces run by POSCO to 11, including nine blast furnaces and one foundry blast furnace. The company churned out 31.8 million tons of steel products last year, with sales topping 20 trillion won.
POSCO has two mills, located in Pohang and Gwangyang on the south coast.
POSCO holds all the domestic and international patents for Finex, but the company does not have any plans to transfer the technology for royalty payments.
Korea ranks fifth after China, Japan, the United States and Russia in steel output, and is fighting to maintain its lead in value-added products in the face of stiff competition from Chinese mills.
Addressing a dedication ceremony for the Finex furnace in Pohang, President Roh Moo-hyun said that the entire nation is proud of POSCO for its development of the breakthrough furnace technology.
We wish POSCO will continue to work hard to become the worlds best steelmaker. Finex is an innovative technology developed by Korea for the first time in the world, Roh said.
The Finex plant vividly testifies to the road the Korean economy has to pursue. Thats challenge and innovation. Without them, we could hardly survive.
The president vowed to extend all possible government support to help private enterprises expand investments in research and development.
