[Infostock Daily= Reporter An Hoe Hyun] POSCO announced on the 23rd that its consolidated operating profit in the third quarter rose 297.5% compared to the previous quarter to 666.7 billion won. Sales for the same period rose 3.9% on-quarter to 14.2612 trillion won. Operating profit on a separate basis turned to a surplus of 261.9 billion won. Sales rose 11.7% on-quarter to 6.5779 trillion won.
In the steel sector, the burden of fixed costs decreased as production and sales recovered to the level before COVID-19, and despite rising iron ore prices, profitability improved significantly due to falling coal prices and extreme internal efforts to cut costs.
In the global infrastructure sector, it showed solid performance due to POSCO E&C's continued strong performance in the construction sector, expansion of POSCO Energy's direct introduction of LNG and increased sales of anode · cathode materials by POSCO Chemical.
With the resumption of operations after the renovation of the 3 furnaces at Gwangyang Steel Mill and orders recovered to the same period last year level, crude steel and product production increased by 1.7 million tons and 1.05 million tons, respectively, compared to the previous quarter. Sales rose 1.13 million tons from the previous quarter to 8.89 million tons through the largest order activity stemming from the recovery of the demand industry. In particular, sales of cold-rolled and plating products, which are high-yield products centered on steel for automobiles, have increased significantly.
Reporter An Hoe Hyun ahh@infostock.co.kr
