Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, on Wednesday announced it has completed the production of a manufacturing facility dedicated to giga steel, which can significantly reduce the weight of cars.

The company held a ceremony marking the completion at the No. 7 Continuous Galvanizing Line located in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province. It was attended by some 250 people, including Chairman and CEO Kwon Oh-joon. The factory took 255.4 billion won ($227.6 million) in investment and can produce some 500,000 metric tons of giga steel per year. 

The steelmaker highlighted that giga steel has enhanced formability and high strength compared to other materials. Giga steel refers to ultrahigh-tensile strength steel rated at more than 1 gigapascal.

At the completion ceremony of a continuous galvanizing line in Thailand last year, Kwon said, “Aluminum is often mentioned as a new material for cars, as it weighs about a third of steel. Steel has better price competitiveness and giga steel, which is three times stronger (than aluminum) can show outstanding performance in weight reduction.”

According to Posco, the self-developed giga steel sheet has ultrahigh-tensile strength that can withstand over 100 kilograms per square millimeter. The name “giga” steel comes from its high tensile strength, the company said.

It takes tensile strength of more than 980 megapascals for the galvanized steel sheet to split apart when pulled from opposite ends.

A 10-by-15-centimeter giga steel plate can withstand 1,500 midsized cars that weigh about a ton each, the company said.

According to the steelmaker, giga steel has enabled the production of safer and stronger vehicles with enhanced fuel efficiency.

Giga steel is more eco-friendly than aluminum and other substitute materials.

According to data by the World Steel Association, up to 2.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide are emitted when producing 1 kilogram of steel, while 11 to 12.6 kilograms are emitted in the process of making 1 kilogram of aluminum.

In terms of price, production costs are 2.1 times more affordable and the cost of the consumer good 3.5 times cheaper when using giga steel compared to aluminum, Posco said.

Posco developed and commercialized its first giga steel product, dubbed PosM-XF, in 2016 with an aim to reduce the weight of cars. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)