Hyundai Steel (004020)

Hyundai Steel, established in 1953, is Korea's first steel company and a comprehensive steel manufacturer producing a wide range of steel products including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, heavy plates, sections, rebar, and special steel. It operates both blast furnaces and electric arc furnaces, and has secured stable mass production technology for all steel grades, especially ultra-high-strength steel for automobiles, solidifying its position as a specialized automotive steel sheet mill. Revenue is comprised of 63% flat products, 29.7% long products, and 6.3% semi-finished products and by-products. Its main customers include finished vehicle manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, as well as shipbuilders. Recently, the company has been expanding its business into new markets such as offshore wind power, data centers, and energy storage systems (ESS). Hyundai Steel has built a diverse product portfolio through a production system encompassing both blast furnaces and electric arc furnaces, with a particular strength in producing high-value-added products such as ultra-high-strength steel for automobiles. It is leading the eco-friendly steel market by being the first in the world to introduce a hybrid process combining electric arc furnaces and blast furnaces into commercial production, mass-producing low-carbon steel sheets with reduced carbon emissions. Furthermore, it is the only company in Korea capable of supplying both structural and non-structural materials required for data center construction, and it is strengthening its competitiveness by offering premium brands like 'HCORE' and 'H-SOLUTION' along with customized solutions. Hyundai Steel's revenue showed a continuous downward trend, decreasing from KRW 27.3406 trillion in 2022 to KRW 22.7332 trillion in 2025. Operating income significantly declined from KRW 1.6165 trillion in 2022 to KRW 159.5 billion in 2024, but showed a slight recovery to KRW 219.2 billion in 2025. Net income sharply decreased from KRW 1.0382 trillion in 2022 to KRW 1.4 billion in 2025, indicating a significant deterioration in profitability. The operating profit margin fell from 5.91% in 2022 to 0.69% in 2024, then slightly improved to 0.96% in 2025. Quarterly performance in 2025 showed high volatility, with an operating loss of KRW 19.0 billion in Q1 and an operating loss of KRW 8.5 billion in Q3. Hyundai Steel's debt-to-equity ratio steadily decreased from 92.39% in 2022 to 73.60% in 2025, indicating an improvement in financial soundness. The current ratio maintained a relatively stable level, from 162.47% in 2022 to 152.72% in 2025, demonstrating sound short-term solvency. However, ROE (Return on Equity) sharply declined from 5.43% in 2022 to 0.01% in 2025, indicating very poor profitability in utilizing equity. In line with the industry trend of carbon neutrality, Hyundai Steel is expanding its production of low-carbon products through the introduction of a hybrid electric arc furnace-blast furnace process, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 12% by 2030. Additionally, the company is pursuing business diversification into new growth markets such as offshore wind power, data centers, and ESS, alongside the development of high-value-added steel sheets to meet trends in automotive lightweighting and high-strength requirements. It plans to strengthen its overseas production and sales system by constructing an integrated electric arc furnace steel mill in Louisiana, USA, thereby responding to protectionism and expanding its global market share.