OREANDA-NEWS. September 26, 2012. POSCO held a groundbreaking ceremony of Hunchun POSCO-Hyundai International Logistics Center in Hunchun, China. The POSCO-Hyundai International Logistics Center Development Project is a strategic project to establish a logistics hub centering on the three northeastern provinces in China. The project, covering an area of 1.5 square kilometers and leased from the Chinese government for the next 50 year to receive infrastructure and tax benefits, will develop and operate a warehouse, container storage and a delivery center, reported the press-centre of  POSCO.

Chairman Chung Joon-yang expressed a congratulatory message, saying, ``The Logistics Complex Development Project will significantly contribute to facilitating economic trade as a logistics hub in the three northeastern provinces in China in the future.`` About 200 people, including Chairman Chung Joon-yang, Party Secretary of Yanbian Prefecture Zhang Anshun, Provincial Party Secretary Sun Zhengcai, Ambassador to China Lee Kyu-hyung, President of Hyundai Group Hyun Jung-eun, President of Yanbian University of Science & Technology Kim Chin-kyeong and Vice Chairman of POSCO Engineering & Construction Jeong Dong-hwa jointly attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

The first phase of the distribution park will be completed by the end of 2013 and start operation in January of 2014. Construction of the second and third phases will be finished by 2019. The center will handle grains, processed fish products, auto parts, clothing items and other consumer goods.

To that end, POSCO and the Jilin Provincial Government concluded a MOU on project promotion in July of 2010, followed by another MOU between POSCO E&C and Hunchun city government in September of the same year. In addition, POSCO A&C took charge of the project design to maximize connection with roads and railways and secured a clear traffic flow system with floor planning suitable for freight flow, a feature of logistics complexes.

The Chinese state government designated 90km2 of Hunchun city areas including Hunchun POSCO Modern International Logistics Park as a Hunchun International Cooperation Demonstration Zone last April to strengthen infrastructure and support policy. The quantity of main goods transported between Jilin and Heilongjiang is expected to grow by 210% (9.9% annually) from 230 million tons this year to 431 million tons in 2020.
POSCO plans to strengthen the role of Hunchun POSCO International Logistics Park as a strategic logistics hub and base to develop resources for the POSCO Family, and consistently promote the project to help it serve as a bridge to expand its business areas to bordering regions such as the three northeastern provinces of China, Mongolia and Russia.