'Private-Sector Resource Diplomacy': POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa Proposes Advancing the Korea-Australia Supply Chain

[Financial News] On the 2nd, POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa proposed advancing the resource supply chain by combining Australia's abundant resources with Korea's advanced smelting and processing technologies. This is part of the Triple-Core Strategy being pursued by POSCO Group. POSCO Group is expanding its business into resources, with industrial resources (steel), strategic resources (lithium), and energy resources as its three main pillars, and Australia is a key partner responsible for 70% of the group's raw-material procurement.
POSCO Group stated that Chairman Chang attended the 47th annual joint meeting of the Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee held in Adelaide, Australia, on that day as chairman of the Korean side.
Approximately 200 political and business figures from both countries attended the meeting, including Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell, and Martin Ferguson, chairman of the Australia-Korea Business Council. They agreed that the status and role of the Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee should be further expanded amid the global supply-chain environment.
In his opening remarks, Chairman Chang presented critical minerals as a new growth engine for industrial cooperation between the two countries. His vision is to create an energy ecosystem by stabilizing the natural-gas supply chain and cooperating on renewable energy, while expanding the partnership into areas such as defense, space, and research and development (R&D).
The meeting also addressed cooperation in three areas: steel, secondary-battery materials, and critical minerals; innovation and R&D; and the energy transition and decarbonization.
POSCO Group shared the activities of the Australia Core Resources Research Institute, its first overseas research institute specializing in resources, and emphasized that cooperation between the two countries should expand into a technology partnership. POSCO International also explained that energy cooperation is evolving beyond securing traditional resources toward jointly developing renewable-energy businesses.
The previous day, Chairman Chang also engaged in private-sector resource diplomacy, holding successive meetings with Australian Minister for Industry and Innovation Tim Ayres and Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell. During the meetings, Chairman Chang emphasized the importance of resource cooperation and requested the Australian government's support and cooperation to ensure the smooth progress of POSCO Group's steel, lithium, and energy businesses in Australia. He also met with a delegation led by Kathleen Conlon, chair of Pilbara Minerals, to explore ways to strengthen cooperation in the lithium business.
[email protected] Kim Mi-hee Reporter