Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., the world’s leading manufacturer of color coated steel, has expanded its production capacity even further.
The company said on Sept. 28 that it completed the construction of the ninth production line of color coated steel in Busan, increasing its annual capacity to 850,000 tons from the previous 750,000 tons.
“The new production line will strengthen our position as the dominant leader of color coated steel in the global market. We will continue to maintain our competitive advantage in infrastructure, R&D as well as after-sale service of color coated steel products,” said a Dongkuk Steel official.
The expansion of the new S1CCL (S1 Color Coating Line) was announced in July 2020, with a total investment of 30 billion won ($25.3 million), in a move to address the growing demand from the consumer electronics makers such as Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc.
Dongkuk Steel’s S1CCL, which combines laminate steel plates and UV coating processes for the first time in the world, will produce high-end color steel plates from its 1,600 mm color steel plate line. A laminate steel plate is a type where special films are coated onto the steel plate to express different colors, patterns and texture. This type of plate is used primarily on premium consumer electronics products and construction materials.
Dongkuk Steel vice chairman Chang Sae-wook at the S1CCL kick-off ceremony. Dongkuk Steel noted that S1CCL will also produce premium weatherproof steel including its Luxteel D-FLON, the world’s first high-weatherproof steel plate specialized for uses in the construction industry. The company added that the Luxsteel D-FLON is a product that can stay rustproof for over 20 years even in volatile weather conditions.
Dongkuk’s market share in the colored steel plate market last year in South Korea was 36%, more than 10 percentage points above its competitors Posco Coated & Color Steel and KG Dongbu Steel.
Dongkuk Steel has been making sustained investments in colored steel since 2010 when the company’s annual capacity stood at 490,000 tons with only four production lines. The revenue portion that the colored steels made up out of the total also increased from 10% in 2010 to more than 20% in 2020.
Dongkuk Steel employees inspecting the new S1CCL site. Dongkuk Steel also developed and commercialized the world’s first UV-coated steel plates in 2013. Its latest innovations include Luxteel Bio, a product with anti-bacterial functions developed in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic.
Dongkuk Steel currently makes more than 10,000 types of colored steel products and possesses 30 patents.
“The establishment of our new S1CCL production line will allow us to continue our dominant leadership in the laminate steel plate market,” said Dongkuk Steel’s vice chairman Chang Sae-wook.
Write to Jung-hwan Hwang at jung@hankyung.com Daniel Cho edited this article.
