“At POSCO, we are united in the mission of building a sustainable company.

  With a firm commitment to making each day better than the last -and tomorrow better than today-
  we offer this report as a testament to our ongoing journey.”

It gives me great pleasure to present POSCO’s 2024 Sustainability Report. Since becoming the first Korean company to publish an environmental report in 1995, POSCO has continuously worked over the past 30 years to disclose its sustainability performance, efforts, and plans with the utmost transparency.

In response to global trends, the evolving media landscape, and growing demands for accessibility, we transitioned to a digital format last year, enabling stakeholders to access the report anytime, anywhere. This year, we further enhanced both the content and structure to improve readability and navigability.

Through a Group-wide double materiality assessment, we identified our key sustainability issues and reflected them evenly throughout the report, starting from the table of contents. Among these, our top three priorities—climate change, safety, and the supply chain—are highlighted in the POSCO ESG Brief. Major policies and 2024 initiatives are presented in alignment with disclosure standards across the organization, operations, risk management, goals, and performance indicators.

Our key initiatives in response to these three major issues are as follows:

First, we formulated realistic and actionable decarbonization strategies to address climate change.
 

We are pursuing the commercialization of HyREX technology in the long term with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, while simultaneously developing various carbon reduction technologies that can be applied in the short to medium term. In 2024, we opened the Hydrogen Reduction Ironmaking Development Center at Pohang Works to focus on technological development capabilities such as HyREX processing research, engineering, and trial operations. Through a joint technology development agreement with an engineering company,  we are working to construct a demonstration plant and validate the technology at a commercial scale.

Meanwhile, construction has begun at Gwangyang Works on a 2.5-million-ton-per-year electric arc furnace (EAF). By developing advanced steel production technologies based on this large-scale EAF, we aim to respond flexibly and progressively to the diverse needs of our customers. In parallel with these new investments, we continue to develop carbon reduction bridge technologies at our existing facilities, such as off-gas injection, hydrogen-containing gas injection, molten scrap charging, and the adoption of the Oxygen Top and Bottom Blown (OTBB) converter. We are also working to ensure a stable supply of raw materials, including scrap, pellets, and HBI, for an economically viable and efficient transition to a decarbonized system.

Second, POSCO is fostering a field-oriented culture of autonomous safety, with a strong focus on operational fundamentals. 
 

Guided by the belief that safety takes precedence over all other priorities, we are building an autonomous safety management system grounded in on-site “Check and Feedback” activities. 

Through organizational restructuring under my direct supervision, we have reinforced the control tower function for safety and health. We also established the Safety Advisory Committee, composed of internal and external safety experts, to discuss the company’s safety strategy, educational direction, measures to strengthen autonomous safety management, and ways to improve implementation effectiveness. At our steelworks, safety meetings are held regularly to raise awareness through open communication with employees. We are also strengthening implementation by identifying and addressing high-risk hazards and automating dangerous manual tasks using AI and IoT. 

In addition, we operate the Safety Win-Win Certification System and the Safety Reporting System to ensure that all stakeholders, including suppliers, work together to maintain a safe workplace.

Third, we are providing systematic support for supply chain management.

POSCO has established an ESG-based supply chain management system to ensure the sustainable competitiveness of its supplier network while helping suppliers enhance their ESG capabilities. A global human rights management system has also been implemented and is being expanded across the supply chain.

A Supplier Code of Conduct and relevant guidelines are provided to mandate ESG compliance among suppliers, with priority application currently underway for those in the raw materials, equipment, and materials sectors. An ESG perspective is applied throughout all stages of supplier engagement, from registration and evaluation to performance monitoring. We also offer ESG consulting and core job competency training for SME suppliers.

In February of this year, we announced our Group Human Rights Management Declaration to explicitly protect the rights of all stakeholders, including suppliers. We are also working to raise human rights awareness throughout the supply chain. Going forward, we will enhance our core competitiveness by analyzing potential risks across the global supply chain and implementing strategic responses, enabling us to navigate an increasingly uncertain environment.

As we celebrate our 57th anniversary this year, we are proud to have ranked first in the steel company competitiveness evaluation by World Steel Dynamics for 15 consecutive years and to have been named a Sustainability Champion by the World Steel Association for the fourth year in a row. Looking ahead, we will continue to grow as a globally sustainable steelmaker, grounded in our core strengths: fundamentals, field orientation, and execution excellence.

At POSCO, we are united in the mission of building a sustainable company. With a firm commitment to making each day better than the last
—and tomorrow better than today—we offer this report as a testament to our ongoing journey.

Your continued interest and support would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you.

June 30, 2025

Hee-Geun Lee
CEO, POSCO