POSCO Gwangyang steel plant — South Korea

POSCO Gwangyang steel plant is a steel plant in South Korea. Its listed capacity is 22,999,000 t of steel. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels. It is operated by POSCO Holdings Inc. By capacity it ranks #1 among 8 steel plants in South Korea. It emits about 34,799,208 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 23% of the CO₂e from the 51 facilities in South Korea that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 63% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1566956.

In context: how this facility compares

At 22,999,000 t of steel, POSCO Gwangyang steel plant is well above the median steel plant in South Korea (4,697,000 t of steel). Subsector: iron-and-steel. As steel plant, it requires high process heat (typically 800–1500°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 34,799,208 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest steel plants in South Korea

Listed capacity (t of steel), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by POSCO Holdings Inc. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

POSCO Gwangyang steel plant sits in a humid subtropical (dry winter) climate zone (Köppen Cwa), at 34.9°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1363 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.05× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #1 largest of 8 steel plants in South Korea by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• GS-Caltex Yeosu Refinery · Refinery · 8,882,869 t CO₂
• GS Caltex Yeosu, Yeochun · Petrochemical · 1,017,159 t CO₂
• LG Petrochemical Yeosu, Yeochun · Petrochemical · 2,712,425 t CO₂
• Lotte Petrochemical Yeosu, Yeochun · Petrochemical · 1,668,141 t CO₂
• Yeochon NCC, Yeochun · Petrochemical · 3,098,945 t CO₂
• SeAH Changwon Integrated Special Steel plant · Steel Plant · 70,607 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 34.92027, 127.73214. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions