POSCO Enters Offshore Plant Cooperation MOUs with Cameroon Government

POSCO, which has served a backbone role in realizing Korea’s development model through steel industry development as part of the 5-year economic development plan in the 1970s, along with investing companies are joining hands with Africa’s newly rising rich nations to pass on technology and know-how in the steel and offshore plants.

CEO Chung Joonyang visited Cameroon Prime Minister Philemon Yang on July 23rd and entered into MOUs for cooperation on steel industry development and offshore plant fields, businesses the Cameroon government has been striving for.

The Cameroon government since 2011 has been requesting support from POSCO to develop and advance the steel industry. Accordingly, POSCO proposed the “Cameroon Steel Industry Development Policy” in 2012 and has been supporting the Cameroon government in steel industry development. Through the “Cameroon Steel Industry Development Cooperation MOU”, the Cameroon government and POSCO plan to develop a steel industry model best fitted for the West Africa steel market.

Cameroon is also located at the center of the Gulf of Guinea which produces more than 4 million tons of crude oil daily, making it an optimal location for offshore plant repair such as repair of jack up rigs. POSCO will additionally sign a cooperation MOU with the shipyard operated by the Cameroon government, carrying out investment cooperation as well as technological training in the offshore plant repair field, and searching for joint project opportunities.

Meanwhile, after visiting Cameroon, CEO Chung will visit Angola on the 25th to meet with Sonangol, the nationally operated oil company, and discuss cooperation in fields including steel, developing specialized shipyards for OSV (Offshore plant support Vessel), and waste-to-energy.

Angola is the second largest oil producing country in Africa following Nigeria which produces 1.8 million barrels of crude oil with the recent completion of a marine oil mine and has plans to increase daily production to 3 million barrels. Sonangol not only produces crude oil and gas which are the source of their finances, but reinvests these funds in various infrastructure industries including airline, manufacturing, logistics, hospitals and others, leading Angola’s economic development.

Sonangol, by cooperating with POSCO, plans to carry out projects including establishing energy steel material production facilities and a shipyard which can dry dock offshore plant support vessels, and waste-to-energy production facilities.

A Sonangol personnel expressed that they have high expectations of this cooperation as the partner POSCO has various businesses including steel, energy, construction, resource development, and ICT which are necessary for national development, has the history of being the foundation of Korea`s economic development and industrialization for 50 years, and also has a corporate culture based on trust.