MOTIE and steel industry establish an MOU for low carbonization…

To form a fund of KRW 150 bln

On February 16, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy established an “MOU for Low-Carbonization of Steel Production” with the steel industry, and agreed to form a fund of KRW 150 bln. On this day, MOTIE announced this decision at the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul, before the Round Table on Development of the Steel Industry presided over by Minister Lee Chang-Yang.

Members of the Korea Iron and Steel Association, Korea Steel Scrap Industry Association, and the steel industry participated in the MOU signing ceremony. They are private sector associations for the pursuit of low carbonization of steel production. Before the meeting began, 7 companies that represented the industry signed the agreement. The goal of this MOU is to improve global competitiveness and disseminate performance through low carbonization of the steel production process. The government, steel industry and steel resource industry have decided to work together in order to promote relevant investment and technological development.

Within the first quarter, they shall set up an “Alliance for Low Carbonization of Steel Production” (provisional name), which is a restructured version of the Green Steel Committee launched in January of 2021. In addition, they have decided to make full use of the Steel ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) win-win fund that has been operating after formation in June of last year at a size of KRW 150 bln, in order to implement the contents of the agreement. They have agreed that upon exhaustion of the fund, they shall form a private fund the size of KRW 150 bln that is specialized in low carbonization of steel production.

“The steel industry must transform from one emitting massive amounts of carbon to an environmentally-friendly one, and from one that focuses on production of general purpose goods, to that of value-added products,”said Minister Lee Chang-Yang of Trade, Industry and Energy. “Recently, the steel industry has been experiencing unprecedented challenges, and we hope that it shall strive in all areas, from technological development to pioneering of markets.”

[Provided by Newsis]