“We are confident that we are supplying the world’s best products with prices as low as those from India and Taiwan, but with quality as good as that of Nippon Steel Stainless Steel (NSSC).”

Kim Ki-ho, CEO of SM Steel, expressed his confidence in the quality of the SM Steel Gunsan plant he visited on June 9 to mark the 2nd anniversary of its completion.

CEO Kim Ki-ho said that SM Steel's Gunsan plant, which was completed two years ago with an investment of 150 billion won, has various world-class performance facilities, including Japan's SteelPlantec straightening machines, and recently secured one more heat treatment unit, and plans to expand its existing 50,000-ton capacity by an additional 50,000 tons to a total annual capacity of 100,000 tons by 2023.

In particular, he mentioned that by processing the black plate supplied by POSCO into high value-added stainless steel plates, a significant amount of existing imported plates can be domestically produced, and production of 4,000mm in width and 150mm in thickness is possible.

In addition, by obtaining nine classification certifications from IACS (International Association of Classification Societies) member countries in March of this year, the quality of the supply to domestic shipbuilders has been verified in name and reality, and this is also an issue in the steel industry. Said.

SM Steel was launched in 1994 as Shinkwang Stainless Steel Industry, the first POSCO stainless steel designated processing center in Korea.

The stainless steel plate business supplies stainless steel plates to all industrial fields, from plant facilities, which are the foundation of industrial development, to interior and exterior building materials and home appliances, with the largest domestic processing capacity of 200,000 tons per year.

The stainless steel thick plate process is equipped with world-class core equipment, including a 4th generation drive type roll type leveler and an automatic correction type press type leveler, and produces the highest quality products.

SM Steel's heat treatment furnace can process 75,000 tons per year, and its cold straightening machine is a Japanese Steel Plantech product with a straightening force of 5,700 tons. It boasts the world's best standards with a maximum width of 4,200 mm, a thickness of 5-50 mm, and a length of 14.5 m, securing differentiated production capabilities.

Accordingly, SM Steel has superior production capacity in the width/thickness sector compared to its competitors: △product thickness 5–150 mm, △product width 1,000–4,000 mm, △product length 2,000–13,500 mm, and △maximum unit load of 15 tons.

In addition, SM Steel has easy access to raw materials through its close partnership with POSCO, and is securing price competitiveness through low costs.

The continuous pickling process is carried out on a closed line here, preventing leakage of hazardous vapors and enabling dual pickling operation.

In addition, with the completion of the Gunsan thick plate factory, 132 new jobs were created, contributing to the revitalization of employment in the Gunsan region and being selected as the best job creation company in Korea in 2021.

We are also actively pursuing overseas exports, obtaining JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) certification in March 2021, and establishing a local corporation in Japan to actively pursue sales in the demanding Japanese market.

CEO Kim Ki-ho said, “As can be seen from the brand name ‘Super Plate’ and the slogan ‘Make it better,’ SM Steel is confident in the best quality that comes from the best facilities.” He added, “To mark the second anniversary of the Gunsan plant, we will break the 30-year monopoly held by a single company in the existing domestic stainless steel plate market and begin advancing into new markets such as petroleum, chemicals, nuclear power, semiconductors, and displays in addition to the existing shipbuilding industry.”