South Korean steelmakers taking part in energy-saving drive in August

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The Korea Iron & Steel Assn said its member companies decided to reduce their electricity consumption by 1.06 million kilowatts per day during the August 5-30 period when electricity demand generally peaks in the country, according to a recent report in the Korea IT Times.

During this period, the steelmakers plan to shut down some production units for maintenance or encourage employees to take leave.

If they succeed in saving energy as planned, it could create a huge energy-saving effect that would be equivalent to those produced by a single nuclear power plant, it said.

Steel companies account for about 10% of the country’s electricity consumption.

Posco, in particular, plans to reduce its electricity consumption by 380,000 kW per day.

To this end, the Korean steel major will trim the capacity utilisation ratio of its stainless steel plant, as well as reduce its work hours during peak electricity usage periods in August, it said.