{
  "id": 2087804,
  "title": "POSCO Chairman Chang In-hwa’s KRW 187 Trillion Vision Faces a Test of Execution",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/posco-chairman-chang-in-hwas-krw-187-trillion-vision-faces-a-test-of",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-20T06:54:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Korea IT Times",
    "slug": "korea-it-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreaittimes.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=156304"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "South Korea's POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa has unveiled an ambitious plan to expand the country's steelmaker into a provider of critical resources, with the goal of achieving KRW 187 trillion in combined revenue and KRW 13.1 trillion in operating profit by 2035. At the CEO Investor Day in July, Chang introduced a \"Triple Core\" portfolio that includes industrial resources, strategic resources, and energy resources. This strategy aims to diversify the company beyond steel and battery materials into natural resources and energy, positioning POSCO as a key player in the supply of critical resources amidst rising geopolitical and supply-chain uncertainties. The plan reflects the challenges faced by POSCO's traditional businesses, such as global steel market competition from China and the slower-than-expected growth and volatile prices of battery materials in the electric vehicle industry. To support this vision, POSCO has been investing heavily in overseas expansions and restructuring its portfolio. In India, POSCO is working on an integrated steel mill in Odisha with JSW Steel, while expanding its partnerships across the battery supply chain, including a potential collaboration with China's Ronbay Group in battery-grade lithium and other battery materials. However, the execution of this strategy remains a significant challenge. POSCO's current return on equity is low, and its core steel business needs to show signs of recovery. The lithium operations in Argentina and the profitability of the battery materials business, such as POSCO Future M, are still in their early stages. Chang has set 2026 as a crucial inflection point for generating tangible results, emphasizing the importance of enhancing competitiveness in steel and battery materials. The focus is now shifting from identifying new growth businesses to ensuring that existing investments generate sustainable returns. The success of this transformation will be measured by the group's ability to translate its vision into tangible financial performance over the coming months.",
  "summary": "POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa has laid out an ambitious plan to transform the South Korean steelmaker into a broader supplier of critical resources, targeting combined revenue of KRW 187 trillion ($135 billion) and operating profit of KRW 13.1 trillion by 2035.The strategy, unveiled at POSCO Gro",
  "key_points": [
    "POSCO Chairman Chang In-hwa unveils KRW 187 trillion expansion plan by 2035.",
    "Triple Core portfolio targets industrial, strategic, and energy resources.",
    "Execution faces challenges in steel recovery, battery materials profitability."
  ],
  "editors_take": "POSCO's ambitious plan to diversify into natural resources and energy signals a strategic shift to counterbalance declining traditional business prospects, but execution challenges and low current returns threaten to derail the vision.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}