Chairman Chung Joon-yang of POSCO was elected vice chairman of the World Steel Association at the association’s annual conference in New Delhi, India, from Oct.8-12, POSCO said recently.

The POSCO chairman will serve as vice chairman for three years from Oct. 2012 to Oct. 2015 and a member of the chairman’s group for 2012-2013 and he is certain to be named as chairman of the association in 2013-2014 in line with the association’s tradition.

The chairman’s group is made up of the chairman and two vice chairmen of the WSA including Chairman Alexei Mordashov of Severstal of Russia, who was promoted to WSA chairman at the conference, and Chairman Zhang Shaogang of China’s Angang Steel, who has been elected vice chairman at the conference along with the POSCO chairman.

Since 2009, Chung has served as a member of the Executive Council of the WSA and won accolades for a job well done from the world steel industry. As vice chairman his position has grown stronger allowing him to voice his opinions on world steel industry issues including raw materials, supply and demand of steel products, and the continuation of the sustainable growth of the world steel industry, enhancing his leadership of POSCO’s global strategy. 

His role has also been strengthened in mediating the interests between steelmakers in Europe and North America, including the United States, and steelmakers in Asia, including China. Some 200 participants in the conference included heads of world-renowned steel makers such as Chairman Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal Steel, Chairman Shinji Muneoka of Nippon Steel, and Chairman John Surma of U.S. Steel, among others.

In the meantime, POSCO ranked 146th on the Fortune List of the 500 Global Companies, up 15 places from last year, and the top steelmaker among the world’s 35 biggest steelmakers by World Steel Dynamics (WSD) this year. WSD analyses 23 categories to arrive at the list of the top steelmakers including production scale, profitability, technology reform, price competitiveness, cost reduction, financial health, and raw material procurement, among others. POSCO has been rated the top steelmaker for three years in a row this year.

POSCO won the top position due to its excellence in many areas of operation including production scale, technology, cost reduction, and profitability. For steelmakers, securing iron ore and coal are among the most vital elements. They also have to have a high profitability through competitive production costs and maximization in cost reduction.

POSCO has been engaged in the exploration of raw materials abroad from the early years of its operation through various means including the takeover of stakes in companies engaged in natural resources exploration and the development of mines abroad.

Chairman Chung traveled around the world last year under the steelmaker’s strategy dubbed “U&I.” U stands for Mongolia, India, Southeast Asia, and Northeast Asia, while I stands for North, Central, and South America, with the addition of the ‘a-belt,’ which indicates Africa, which is full of natural resource reserves where POSCO must go. Chung visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, and Ethiopia early last year and added Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa on a visit later in the year, with a follow up visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. Along the way, Chung met with top officials to discuss POSCO’s natural resources exploration either alone or in partnership with local firms, particularly in Tanzania, which has plenty of iron ore, coal, nickel, and manganese mines, among others.

Daewoo International, which POSCO acquired in 2010, has been playing a huge role in the exploration of natural resources taking advantage of its vast overseas network working with POSCO to create synergy between the two firms.

Daewoo International has supported POSCO’s efforts to secure raw materials such as iron ore and coal from its coal mine in Australia and nickel mine in Madagascar. The company has been a huge help in enhancing POSCO’s global position as an integrated material supplier by securing such rare minerals as magnesium, nickel, lithium, titanium, and zirconium.