POSCO : America Moves to Atlanta

POSCO America pledges a new start by inviting relevant VIPs such as embassies, customers
- POSCO America lays the foundation for expanding sales and customer service in the Americas

POSCO America moved its office from New Jersey to Atlanta on December 19.

Approximately 30 people took part in the ceremony to commemorate the move of POSCO America's office. In attendance were Chang-gyu Kim, Director of the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C., Myung-woo Nam, Consul General of Georgia, Jay Park, Director of AP Exhaust, Je-ho Myung, Managing Director of Kiswire, Bo-won Hwang, head of POSCO Mexico and Jae-rin Koh, head of POSCO Daewoo America among others.

▶ Bo-won Hwang, head of POSCO Mexico, Won-ki Kim, head of POSCO America, Chang-gyu Kim, Director of the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Jay Park, Director of AP Exhaust are seen cutting tape in the opening ceremony for POSCO America in Atlanta on December 19.

POSCO America moved to Johns Creek, a rising city of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and will have over 40 employees working for the functions of POSCO America as a regional headquarters as well as sales and technical support, and support for POSCO's corporations in the US.

Since its establishment in 1984, POSCO America has been exporting its products to the Americas and managing local joint venture corporations. After New York and New Jersey, POSCO America moved to Atlanta where the manufacturing industry such as automobile and energy is growing rapidly.

The southeastern part of the United States where POSCO America is adjacent toten states such as Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. This region's annual demand for steel accounts for about 38% of the US's total demand of 41 million tons. On top of that, low logistics and labor costs in this region is empowering this region to take the initiative in reviving the US manufacturing industry.

Most of POSCO's customers are also concentrated in the southeastern region of the US adjacent to major ports such as Houston, Mobile, New Orleans and Wilmington due to conditions such as inland transportation. In particular, as Atlanta is a transportation hub, it is easy to secure high-quality human resources in Atlanta. Also, Atlanta was selected as the best new home of POSCO America since the region is close to POSCO's customers such as Hyundai-Kia with related auto parts companies, Kiswire, Caterpillar, and global automakers such as GM, Honda.

With this move acting as momentum, POSCO America plans not only to discover new customers in preparation for an increase in demand for steel in the southeastern region but to play the role of a forward base for Korea's export of steel and contribute to the development of the local community by creating demand for high-grade steel. Moreover, POSCO America will provide high-quality customer service in real time, and to become a "Total Solution Provider" rather than remaining a simple steel dealer by working closely with its sales offices in Detroit, Houston, and Mexico and its regional technical service centers.

▶ Myung-woo Nam, Consul General of Korea in Georgia and Chang-kyu Kim, Director of the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. attended the opening ceremony and can be seen here experiencing a steel making process by means of VR (virtual reality) devices.

POSCO America is in charge of representing 24 corporations invested in by POSCO in the Americas. Major production and sales subsidiaries in the Americas include POSCO Canada which mines and sells coal from Canada; UPI, a joint venture between POSCO and US Steel; the Alabama Coil Production Center; POSCO Mexico which produces and sells plated products; and CSP, an integrated steel mill jointly founded with Dongkuk Steel which produces and sells slabs. As POSCO Group affiliates, POSCO Daewoo, a general trading company, and POSCO E&C are active throughout many places in the Americas.