The top management of POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, assured Oct 1 that the company will bolster its overseas presence while shifting its focus to technology- based and value-added steel products. "We have no plans to revise an investment project in India at the present," POSCO chairman Lee Ku-taek said during a press conference held at the company's headquarters in Samsung-dong. The conference was held to announce the opening of the 39th Annual Conference of the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), which started yesterday and will continue over four days in Seoul. POSCO signed an agreement with the Orissa state of India to invest $12 billion to set up a steel plant last June. However, skepticism over the largest foreign investment deal for India still lingers due to continued domestic oposition in India and the recent $9 billion investment plan of rival Mittal Steel in Jharkhand, a state adjacent to Orissa. "I want to clarify that POSCO went to India to meet the rising demand for steel there, not to focus on raw materials produced in Orissa," Lee said. Regarding the impact of Mittal Steel's investment plan on the POSCO-Orissa deal, Lee said the company is paying close attention to its rival's move and will decide later whether to make some revisions to its investment deal with Orissa. The POSCO head also said that he was confident in pushing for an investment project in China in a bid to expand overseas. "I believe China's tight policy on the steel industry will have little impact on POSCO's move," Lee said. POSCO has been considering many options to expand investment in China, including the acquisition and establishment of a new steel plant. Steel giants, including POSCO, are setting their sights on China, where demand for steel is booming alongside India. The Korean steelmaker produced more than 29 million tons of steel products last year. It already operates 10 Chinese affiliates that produce or process various steel products, such as stainless steel. Besides its overseas expansion to create new demand, POSCO is aimed to withdraw low-priced steel products in stages while focusing on valueadded quality products, Lee said. "We expect the polarization in the global steel product price to continue. POSCO will drop the portion of lowquality products facing rising price competition," Lee said. Instead, POSCO will shift to technology- based and value-added steel products, Lee added, declining to name any strategic products the company has sought. On the prospects for the steel industry next year, he predicted the industry's second boom time will continue thanks to explosive demand from emerging markets and the continued efforts to establish a market-driven restructuring mechanism in the global steel industry. Asked about the company's interest in developing iron ore in North Korea, Lee said it is too early to study investment opportunities in the North as the company has little information on the market. Opportunities and challenges in the global steel industry will discuss further in the IISI's annual conference at the Seoul Grand Intercontinental Hotel. About 400 top officials from member companies join the conference, including POSCO chairman Lee Ku-taek, Nippon Steel president and IISI Chairman Akio Mimura, BlueScope Steel president Kirby Adams, Arcelor SA president Guy Dolle and Mittal Steel chairman Lakshimi Mittal. Participating representatives of member companies will elect the new IISI officers, approve new membership and present accounting reports at the general meeting on Oct. 2. Panel discussions on industry issues will follow from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5. The IISI, established in 1967, consists of 185 steel companies, associations and federations of steelmakers in 55 countries. Raw steel producers of at least 2 million short tons per annum are given regular membership. In Korea, POSCO, INI Steel, Dongkuk Steel Mill and the Korea Iron & Steel Association are IISI members.