Posco, E&C, Future M, DX and Flow join early payment drive

Group moves up cash settlements to ease holiday cash-flow strain

Traditional market visits, community service also planned in Pohang, Gwangyang

An exterior view of Posco Center [Posco Holdings]
An exterior view of Posco Center [Posco Holdings]

Posco Group will pay 436.8 billion won ($324 million) in trade payments to its suppliers up to 13 days ahead of schedule ahead of the Chuseok holiday, as companies typically face heightened demand for cash around the holiday period to cover wages and raw materials costs.

Several major affiliates are taking part in the early payment drive, including Posco, Posco E&C, Posco Future M, Posco DX and Posco Flow, the group said Tuesday.

Posco and Posco Flow will pay a combined 366 billion won in trade payments originally due between Wednesday and Sept. 23 ahead of schedule. Posco E&C will consolidate 44.8 billion won in payments originally spread across Sept. 18 through Sept. 30 and disburse the full amount in cash on Thursday.

Posco Future M and Posco DX will each pay about 13 billion won in trade payments in cash early, on Monday.

Posco Group has made a practice of moving up payment dates ahead of the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays to ease temporary cash-flow pressure on suppliers. Beyond simply shifting payment timing, the group has also consistently expanded the scope of cash settlements.

Posco has settled all payments to small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers entirely in cash since December 2004, and extended the same policy to mid-sized companies in November 2017. The aim is to ensure that cash paid to first-tier suppliers flows through to second- and third-tier partners as well.

Affiliates operate under similar policies. Posco Flow, the group's logistics arm, has paid all trade amounts to smaller suppliers entirely in cash since its launch in 2022. Posco E&C has done the same for small and medium-sized suppliers since 2010, relatively early by construction-industry standards.

Ahead of Chuseok, the group also plans community service activities in Pohang, Gwangyang and other areas where its major worksites are located.

Pohang Steelworks will send teams from each department to shop at local traditional markets. On Monday, plant managers are scheduled to visit Songdo Nanum House to serve meals to residents.

Gwangyang Steelworks plans to patronize local traditional markets as well, and will deliver daily-necessity kits to people with disabilities and carry out a marine ecosystem cleanup in Gwangyang Bay.

Posco E&C employees will hand-make mandu and deliver them to 200 food-insecure households in Incheon. Posco Future M will run activities at its worksites in Pohang, Gwangyang, Sejong and Seoul, including ocean litter collection, free meal service at soup kitchens, and cleanup work at residential facilities for people with disabilities.


kwater@heraldcorp.com