By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

Choi Jeong-woo, chairman of POSCO Group, recently met with Australian Minister for Resources Madeleine King to discuss the eco-friendly future business cooperation that POSCO Group is promoting in Australia.

According to POSCO on Feb. 5, Minister Madeleine King visited the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Jan. 31 and exchanged views with Chairman Choi on the business areas of steel, clean hydrogen and secondary battery materials.

At the meeting, Choi said, "The areas of cooperation between POSCO Group and Australia for the common goal of carbon neutrality are diversifying, and I would like to ask for the Australian government's continued interest and support."

"Australia has a long history of resource cooperation with POSCO Group," said Minister Madeleine King, adding, "We will actively support POSCO Group to be a good partner not only in traditional steel raw materials but also in future business fields such as HBI (Hot Briquetted Iron) and hydrogen to lead the global decarbonization era."

HBI is direct reduced iron that has been reduced by removing oxygen from iron ore and then molded into clamshell shapes. It is an essential raw material for the production of high-grade steel in electric blast furnace operations.

In November last year, POSCO agreed on the main terms of a site lease with the Australian government to produce HBI, a low-carbon steel raw material, in Australia. The company is currently reviewing the feasibility of the project with major partners.

In addition, POSCO Group aims to convert 1% of the reducing agent required for HBI production into hydrogen in the green hydrogen business linked to HBI. It plans to gradually increase the volume of hydrogen blending to 10% by 2030.

Australia is considered a key strategic country for POSCO's green hydrogen business, with its large land area and abundant sunlight, which are optimized for the development of clean hydrogen.

POSCO is promoting active investment cooperation with Australia not only in clean hydrogen but also in lithium.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, which was completed in November last year, is a joint venture between POSCO Holdings and Australian mining company Pilbara Minerals, and produces lithium hydroxide for secondary battery materials in Korea based on Australian ore.

As the process of securing raw materials and processing is carried out within the U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) country, it means that both Korea and Australia will jointly produce and supply products that comply with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), POSCO said.