Posco said Friday that it has kicked off construction of a new 1 trillion won ($804 million) electrical steel manufacturing plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, in response to growing demand for the eco-friendly steel in vehicles and home appliances. 

The steel giant said based on its 40-year expertise in producing electrical steels, the new plant will be producing 300,000 tons of high-efficient, non-oriented electrical steels annually, which are used as core materials in rotating machines such as electric motors to large power generators. The product has homogeneous magnetic properties in all directions, which enables low core loss, high induction and good punchability.

When the plant is completed in 2025, Posco said its total production capacity of electrical steel is expected to surge to some 1.13 million tons per year.

It also added that at the new plant, the company will lower the thickness of the product to 0.1 millimeters by adopting the latest, cutting-edge facilities and equipment. The thinner steel will allow the company to flexibly respond to customized orders from its key clients such as Samsung and LG. 

The company added that it expected to attribute to the creation of jobs and reviving regional economy through the plant production by injecting 210,000 workforce needed for construction. 

According to market tracker IHS Markit, the global demand for non-oriented electrical steel for electric vehicles is expected to grow from 320,000 tons in 2020 to 4 million tons in 2033. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)