POSCO International Corp. said Wednesday it has signed a charter agreement with a South Korean shipping company for the transport of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it pushes to boost energy business.
Under the deal with H-Line Shipping Co., a 174,000-cubic-meter LNG vessel, to be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., will serve to carry the cargo for POSCO International, including some 400,000 tons of shale gas it plans to bring in from North America from 2026 to 2046 for domestic supply and trading, the trading arm of South Korean steel giant POSCO Holdings Inc. said.
The vessel will be delivered in the first quarter of 2025.
The carrying capacity of the new LNG carrier is equivalent to enough supply for all households in South Korea to last about half a day.
With the new chartered LNG vessel, POSCO International plans to bolster its LNG business from production and transportation to selling into markets, the company said.
POSCO International has engaged in gas exploration since 2000, when it first began its gas mining project in Myanmar. The upstream business has continued with similar projects in Southeast Asia and its investment in an Australian energy company.
Its LNG segment has expanded after POSCO International merged with POSCO Energy Co., a POSCO energy affiliate engaged in LNG bunkering and power generation.