POSCO unveils 15 firms permitted to use steelmaker’s name

By Park Jae-hyuk

The list of 15 companies that are permitted to use the “Steel by POSCO” trademark was posted on the steelmaker’s website on Monday to help consumers avoid the purchase of products made with low-quality steel materials.

Since 2019, POSCO has allowed makers of kitchen appliances, fire extinguishers and water pipes to use the trademark if they make their products with its steel materials, without using those from other steelmakers.

Any company that sources its entire steel material supply from POSCO can sign a brand-sharing agreement with the steelmaker.

POSCO said that a brand-sharing agreement aims to ensure transparent disclosure of the origin of materials closely related to consumer health and hygiene.

At this moment, Boram Steel, CNT Korea, Korea Clad Tech, Daidong Fire Protection, Chung Sung, Oil Metal and EF Korea are among the 15 companies with active brand-sharing agreements with POSCO.

POSCO expects the brand-sharing agreements to encourage sales of made-in-Korea products, enabling small- and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their competitiveness.

Additionally, the agreements have been seen as a way to prevent Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese steel materials from being sold as POSCO’s products in the domestic market and damaging end-users.