POSCO Pohang steel plant — South Korea

POSCO Pohang steel plant is a steel plant in South Korea. Its listed capacity is 17,551,820 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 #2 among 8 steel plants in South Korea. It emits about 24,457,044 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 16% of the CO₂e from the 51 facilities in South Korea that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 50% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1566957.

In context: how this facility compares

At 17,551,820 t of steel, POSCO Pohang 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 24,457,044 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 Pohang steel plant sits in a humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), at 36.0°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 a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1373 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.06× 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 #2 largest of 8 steel plants in South Korea by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Hyundai Steel Pohang steel plant · Steel Plant · 200,053 t CO₂
• SeAH Steel Pohang plant · Steel Plant · 238,892 t CO₂
• Dongkuk Steel Pohang steel plant · Steel Plant · 82,375 t CO₂
• Union Corp Pohang Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 2,377,321 t CO₂
• SK Ulsan Refinery · Refinery · 7,295,436 t CO₂
• SK geo centric, Ulsan · Petrochemical · 1,166,343 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 36.01826, 129.39378. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions