POSCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE:PKX) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Unidentified Company Representative: Hello. I am [Tom Bong Su] from Pohang. So I would like to answer your question. A lot of the global companies are going for low-carbon products and many steel makers are very much committed to achieve net-zero and that is why they are accelerating the hydrogen reduced iron projects. But there is the ESF type, which is our type. And there is a shaft type and EAF, electric arc furnace type done by the EU. So these are the two major types. But the biggest difference between the two is that as for the shaft type, we have to use a very high quality iron ore. So that is why, there is a limited reserve at the door. And that’s the case. And as for the fluidic, we have to — we can actually use lower quality.

So there is not much like a limited access to reserve. So that is one of the advantage that we have. And as for the HyREX and the electric arc furnace, you mentioned about the size. As for the EAF, we have a lot of knowhow in running. So there is a good knowhow accumulated to the FINEX, and we also have the knowhow of the electric arc furnace. So if we combine all of these knowhow, so there will be actually a synergy. And we believe that we will be able to accelerate the overall speed of the shaft furnace. So when it comes to the HyREX and if we consider it as 100 in total, then in terms of like cost or technological advantage and in terms of development speed, if we factor in all of these factors, we believe that we will be able to — we have secured a technology that is quite leading.

Thank you.

Operator: Thank you very much. Now we’ll move on to the next question. From Yuanta Securities, Mr. Yi Hyun-soo will ask questions. You have the floor.

Yi Hyun-soo: Yes. Hello. My name is Yi Hyun-soo. So I have about three questions. First about POSCO. So you said that the sales recovered to about 8.3 million, and the volume will also reach about 9 million. So if — do you think that the sales will recover in H2 of the year? Do you have any specific numbers in terms of sales volume? And also, you talked about this during the presentation, but results recovered in quarter two. And what about the H2? Do you see that in H2 the results will even increase compared to Q2? And also, I have a question about lithium for secondary batteries. So in the mid and long-term, so now, brine lithium, the production capacity will be about 100,000 and others have to come from ore, and so on and so forth.

And from what you have mentioned so far, so of course you keep saying that brine is the most profitable. However, now we see more production volume for other elements as well. So if you look at Argentine, maybe it’s a project that we carried out long time ago, and is that because of profit level that you’re making such a decision? And in the mid and long-term, how would the share be between iron ore and brine? And last but not least, recently, not only POSCO Holdings, but also we’ve seen the share increase. So we are seeing a rally of the share price. And you said that it’s about 70%. And for now, well, we do not have a financing right away. But in the past I believe that the acquisition cost has changed. So like for affiliates, do you plan to adjust the shares?

So that is my last question. Thank you very much.