Dongkuk Steel Mill Chairman Chang Sae-joo received an honor from Brazilian legislative on Tuesday (local time) in recognition of his decade of hard work to build a blast furnace in the middle of tropical forest in the country.

“I believe a dream held by many people will become a reality for sure. All of us are working hard to make our dream a reality,” said Chang during an awarding ceremony of the José Ermírio de Moraes medal held in the Federal Senate in Brasília, Brazil.

The Brazilian Senate recognized Chang’s contribution to the successful completion of building Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem (CSP) steel mill, located in the northeastern state of Ceara. The Senate said Chang as head of Dongkuk Steel Mill, a shareholding company of CSP, has contributed much to the development of the local economy with many initiatives including a $5.4 billion investment project to produce a 3 million-ton steel slab per year.

Dongkuk Steel, Korea`s third-largest steelmaker, owns 30 percent of the CSP steel mill, while the country’s leading steelmaker, Posco, and Brazilian mining giant Vale have 20 percent and 50 percent shares, respectively. The steel mill operation is directly or indirectly contributing to creating 37,000 jobs there.

The CSP project is Chang’s brainchild that reflects his enthusiasm. Chang who started working as a rank-and-file employee at the Korean steel mill in 1978 masterminded the project in 2001 when he rose to the top succeeding former Honorary Chairman Chang Sang-tae. It took 10 years to prepare the launch. An MOU on the company’s investment in Brazil was signed in 2005, followed by a three-party agreement between Dongkuk, Vale and Posco in 2010, and ground breaking in 2011.

The CSP steel mill entered into operation in June 2016 with a blast furnace ignition ceremony. The plant is now on track to thrive with an operating profit of $164 million over production of 2.93 million tons last year. Posco engineers contributed to commercial production.

By Kang Gye-man and Minu Kim

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