V.Chmn. and CEO Woo Yoo-cheol of Hyundai Steel. 

In his New Year’s speech, Vice Chairman Woo Yoo-cheol of Hyundai Steel said the steel maker should keep running ahead and not hang on to past achievements if it wants to achieve the goal to become a global steel maker turning out special steel products for automobiles.

The steel maker, whose history goes back to 1953, has been trying to be a globally renowned steel maker for steel products for autos. The steel maker ploughed 9.884 trillion won into its operations since 2006, the first civilian-invested and operated steel plant in Korea. In 2013 its third blast furnace was completed. Now that the steel maker has three blast furnaces to put its name on the global steel industrial map, it plans to slim its management  and upgrade the quality of its steel products with smooth communication and cooperation among a vast number of units in its organizational structure. 

Last year was remarkable for the steel maker, with all three blast furnaces in its Dangjin Steel Complex in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, going online. The steel maker also has become integrated by merging with Hyundai Hysco, the maker of cold-rolled steel, turning out all kinds of steel from crude steel to final steel products at its complex.

Early this year, the steel maker took over Dongbu Special Steel to expand its operation into the production of steel products that go into auto parts, boosting its total annual steel output capacity to 24 million tons and making it 10th biggest in the world, an outstanding achievement considering the fact it ranked only 30th in the world around 2006.

The steel maker is ready to produce plated aluminum and lead at the second steel complex in Dangjin to turn out 500,000 tons of the product annually for auto makers. The steel maker will build a special steel plant at its Dangjin Steel Complex with an annual capacity to turn out 1 million tons of high-intensity special steel from next year.

The steel maker has also intensified R&D into the development of next generation steel plates, especially on the development of super light special steel plates that are strong in high temperatures and pressures that are to be tailor-made in accordance with the demands by customers. Last year, the steel maker introduced 94 kinds of special steel products.

Vice chairman Woo said Hyundai Steel has been playing a core role in Hyundai Motor Group’s operation, ranging from crude steel and auto parts to complete cars. 

“We shall to our best in the area of parts and materials to be able to meet fully what the customers want through continuous reform,” the vice chairman said.

Since opening in 2006, the steel maker has been at work to expand its plant equipment and capacities to turn out steel products, but top management felt it was time to check if its management style was good enough to run the steel maker now that it’s counted among the 10 biggest in the world.

The management decided to streamline its structure, boost competitivness in marketing and be successful in the eyes of customers. All told, there are three major strategic management areas under the themes: communication and integration.

In a bid to adjust the management structure to the new theme, the steel maker reformed its structure to 10 headquarters and 15 operation departments, which is down from 14 headquarters and six operation departments. They also combined the cold and hot-rolled steel structures into one department in the hope that greater synergy would be created. The steel maker set up KAM (Key Account Management) to provide more effective services to its overseas customers.

A view of Hyundai Steel Dangjin Steel Complex in Dangjin, S. Chungcheong Province.(Photos:Hyundai Steel)