OREANDA-NEWS. January 11, 2013. POSCO once again proved high competitiveness by demonstrating solid results even amidst global economic stagnation and the crisis of the global steel industry, reported the press-centre of POSCO. 

Up to the third quarter of 2012, POSCO marked approximately 2~6% more than the average operating profit of global steel companies. POSCO also ranked first in terms of market value of global steel companies.

With the steel industry facing difficulties due to economic stagnation and oversupply, POSCO was able to achieve these results as it focused on sales of `World First World Best` products which are high value added strategic products.

Sales percentage of World First World Best products continuously increased since the second quarter. The company focused on sales of high value added products, with increased sales in overseas exports of steel plates for automobiles and energy.

POSCO`s credit rating, provided by the three major international major credit agencies, ranked highest among all global steel companies. Despite the global recession, the company was highly evaluated for maintaining stable profit and sound financial structures, leading to high growth potential.

Further strengthened financial soundness also stood out. At the end of the third quarter, unconsolidated debt ratio decreased by 4.3% from last year to 35.9%, and debt to equity ratio increased by 2.3% to 73.6%.

Researcher Gyeongjun Kim, a steel specialized analyst of Eugene Investment & Securities, said, ``POSCO is further increasing highly profitable products such as steel materials for automobiles and energy from the current 34%. The company is expected to maintain high profitability compared to competitors.``

Meanwhile, World Steel Dynamics, the world`s leading steel information service, selected POSCO as the `world`s most competitive steel company` among 35 global steel companies for three consecutive years. WSD evaluated 23 factors including technology innovation, production scale, profitability, and cost definitiveness and selected POSCO as the best.
Further, POSCO ranked 30th in the `Global 100 Most Sustainable.

Corporations` ranking announced by the World Economic Forum based in Switzerland. This is the top ranking of all global steel companies, as well as the top ranking among Korean companies, demonstrating highest competitiveness.