South Korean steelmaker POSCO has announced that it has broken ground for its continuous galvanizing line (CGL) to produce quality galvanized steel sheet for automotive applications in Rayong Province, Thailand. The new line with an annual output capacity of 450,000 mt is scheduled to be completed by June 2016, expanding the company's basis for global automotive steel sheet production.
According to POSCO, Thailand is rising as the biggest automotive production base in Southeast Asia, with an annual production capacity that has increased to 3.2 million vehicles in the wake of facility addition/expansion by automakers in the past three years. JFE and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (NSSMC) of Japan recently completed and subsequently began operation of a continuous galvanizing line in Thailand.
Judging that there would be consequent challenges to continuing to export automotive steel sheets to Thailand, POSCO decided to build a continuous galvanizing line on site in Thailand in a bid to make a greater dent in the automotive steel sheet market in Southeast Asia, including Thailand.
Upon the completion of the new continuous galvanizing line in Thailand, POSCO`s overseas automotive steel sheet production capacity will jump to 2.2 million mt per year.
