Singapore (Platts)--29Jan2013/548 am EST/1048 GMT

Posco's production of carbon steel and stainless steel during its business year ended December 31, 2012, reached an all-time high for the South Korean mill of 37.99 million mt, up 1.8% year-on-year, it said Tuesday.

The company's total sales volume during the period also reached a record high of 35.05 million mt, up 1.6% year-on-year, according to a report the mill filed with the Korea Stock Exchange.

Exports accounted for 41.7% of Posco's total sales in volume last year, which compares with an export ratio of 38.6% in the company's 2011 business year when total sales reached 34.49 million mt, it said.

Among its three largest steel-consuming customers, Posco's sales to the automotive sector climbed to 7.87 million mt last year, up 3%, in line with higher demand from carmakers.

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However, Posco's sales to the home appliances sector slipped 2% to 2.39 million mt and to shipbuilders by a huge 20% from 2011 to just 3.4 million mt, the mill noted.

For 2013, Posco forecasts that its total crude steel output and total sales will both decline by 1 million mt year-on-year to 37 million mt and 34 million mt, respectively.

At an explanation meeting Posco convened to coincide with the tabling of its results, company CEO Chung Joon-Yang said the targets for this year were decided during the fourth quarter of last year.

"At the time we anticipated that steel markets would be worse in 2013 compared with last year," he said, adding that global steel demand is expected to improve this year.

Posco now plans to "adjust its targets" according to market trends, Chung said.

Meanwhile, Posco forecast that its global upstream steelmaking capacity will grow significantly this year should several projects now under way be completed as scheduled.

At home, Posco's domestic crude steel capacity will climb to 43 million mt this year, up from 39 million mt currently, when it completes an expansion of the No.1 blast furnace at its Gwangyang steel works on Korea's southern coast.

The work to raise the unit's inner volume to around 6,000 cubic metres from 3,950 cu m will be finished by June.

Posco is also adding 2 million mt/year of upstream capacity with the introduction of the No.3 Finex plant at its Pohang works which should be finished in December.

Outside Korea, Posco's capacity will jump to 4 million mt when it commissions the 3 million mt/year integrated mill complex at Cilegon-Banten in west Java, Indonesia, with its partner PT Krakatau Steel.

--Hera Oh, hera_oh@platts.com
--Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ_mcculloch@platts.com; James Leech, james_leech@platts.com

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