Regional LNG: S. Korea?s POSCO completes LNG terminal in Gwangyang: Report

Aiming to cut costs and pollution, POSCO, South Korea?s largest steelmaker, on Monday completed the country?s first privately built terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Gwangyang, The Korea Herald reported Tuesday.

The terminal, costing around 322.6 billion won (US$ = 1,053 won), boasts a storage capacity of 1.7 million metric tons of LNG a year. The new facility also includes a port for large-scale LNG carriers and two LNG tanks that hold up to 100,000 kiloliters of gas.

The gas output from the Pohang-based steelmaker?s terminal will mostly be used to supply its LNG power plants and the K-Power power plant, a subsidiary of SK Corp., the country's largest oil refiner.

?The terminal holds much meaning in that it is the first to be created by a non-government corporation, and we see it to help reduce operating costs and pollution in the area by supplying cleaner and cheaper gas,? said a POSCO official.

Currently, POSCO uses LNG distributed by the country?s state-run Korea Gas Corp to generate more than 20 percent of the power used at its steel mills.

To facilitate a stable supply line for LNG, POSCO signed a contract with Indonesia's Tangguh consortium in July last year to access to an annual 550,000 tons of LNG over the next 20 years. (*)