Super typhoon floods giant Korean steel plant halting production

A view shows smoke and flames across a water body, which is said to be due to a fire at the Posco steel plant amid Typhoon Hinnamnor, in Pohang, South Korea, on Sept 6, 2022 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. - Reuters

SEOUL (Bloomberg): A powerful storm that lashed South Korea’s southern coast earlier this week has left one of the country’s biggest steelworks shuttered, spurring concerns over the nation’s production.

Posco, the country’s biggest steelmaker, as well as Hyundai Steel Co suspended operations at their plants in Pohang after Super Typhoon Hinnamnor flooded facilities there, according to regulatory filings Wednesday.

Posco’s Pohang works is one of its two main sites in South Korea, and hosts a significant portion of the group’s 40 million tonnes of annual crude steel capacity.

Three of Posco’s blast furnaces will restart as soon as power is restored, though the firm is still reviewing the resumption date for the plant as a whole, it said in the filing. Hyundai Steel said the suspension won’t hurt its profit because the company can ramp up production at two other locations in Incheon and Dangjin.

Hyundai Steel gained as much as 5% in Seoul, the biggest intraday advance since March, while Posco Holdings Inc. slumped as much as 4.2%. The benchmark Kospi fell 1.5%.

The typhoon that battered South Korea early Tuesday left at least six people dead and created flooding and power outages. Most businesses, schools and public transport in the country have returned to normal soon after the storm had passed.