PKXFF POSCO (PK)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15D-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of May, 2024

Commission File Number: 1-13368

POSCO HOLDINGS INC.

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

POSCO Center, 440 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, 06194

(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F ☒    Form 40-F ☐

POSCO HOLDINGS INC. is furnishing under cover of Form 6-K:

Exhibit 99.1: An English-language translated documents of POSCO HOLDINGS INC.’s 1Q Quarterly Report for the year 2024.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Exhibit 99.1

QURATERLY REPORT

(From January 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024)

THIS IS AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE QUATERLY REPORT ORIGINALLY PREPARED IN THE KOREAN LANGUAGE (IN SUCH FORM AS REQUIRED BY THE KOREAN FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION). THIS ENGLISH TRANSLATION IS NOT OFFICIAL AND IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY.

UNLESS EXPRESSLY STATED OTHERWISE, ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS PRESENTED ON BOTH CONSOLIDATED AND NON-CONSOLIDATED BASIS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE KOREAN-INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS (K-IFRS) WHICH DIFFER IN CERTAIN RESPECTS FROM GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES IN CERTAIN OTHER COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES. WE HAVE MADE NO ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY OR QUANTIFY THE IMPACT OF THESE DIFFERENCES.

QUARTERLY REPORT

(From January 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024)

To:  Korean Financial Services Commission and Korea Exchange

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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I. OVERVIEW

Company Overview part is omitted on the quarterly report. Please refer to our Annual Report(20-F) disclosed on April 29, 2024 or summarized version of Business Report on March 29, 2024.

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II. BUSINESS

1. Overview

A. Classification of Business

We classify our business into six segments:

Steel segment, Green Infrastructure (Trading segment), Green Infrastructure (Construction segment),

Green Infrastructure (Logistics and etc. segment), Green Materials and Energy, and Others.

B. Summary of Financial Status of Segment

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2. Business Status of Segments

A. Steel

There are 83 consolidated companies in the steel segment, including POSCO and POSCO Steeleon, and overseas companies including PT.Krakatau POSCO in Indonesia, POSCO (Zhangjiagang) Stainless Steel Co., Ltd. in China and overseas processing centers.

∎ POSCO

(1) Summary of Business

POSCO produces steel materials such as hot rolled, cold rolled and stainless steel at Pohang Steelworks and Gwangyang Steelworks which is the largest steel mill in the world.

The steel industry is a key industry that has taken pivotal roles in the national economic development. Steel is used as a basic material in various manufacturing fields such as automobiles, shipbuilding, home appliances, and construction, and has a close connection with the front industry due to its characteristics.

In 2023, the cumulative global crude steel production increased year-on-year due to robust demand from emerging economies such as India, despite sluggish industrial economies of developed countries and a slump in the Chinese real estate market.

Global Crude Steel Production

The steel industry is affected by the business cycle and the ups and downs of the demand industry.

Therefore, steel demand is not only related to trend of market economy, but also to situation of demand industries like shipbuilding, automobiles, home appliances, constructions and etc.

The steel industry is a capital and technology-intensive industry that requires enormous initial investments. Steel companies are focusing on reducing production costs and securing price competitiveness.

POSCO aims to maintain its competitive edge in the domestic market by strengthening long-term partnerships with key and leading customers and responding to global protectionism based on comprehensive response systems such as marketing, R&D, technology services, and production. In addition, we are expanding steel processing centers to meet the needs of global front industries such as automobiles, shipbuilding, home appliances, and construction, while strengthening our global sales network by operating steel production bases Indonesia(upstream) and India(cold-rolling mills). We are continuously considering expanding overseas production capacity, including the joint venture of Hebei Steel and Steel in China in 2023.

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The company plans to upgrade its customer and market structure by expanding its high value-added World Top Premium products, while responding to customers’ diverse needs by launching an eco-friendly product line Greenate and developing hydrogen-reduced steel HyREX technology in line with the global low-carbon trend. In the steel industry, automobiles, shipbuilding, and construction are the main demand industries, and steel products are used as raw materials for these demand industries. In terms of sales, the proportion of domestic sale is 54% of total sales and export sales are around 46%, and by export region, the proportion of Japan, Europe, Southeast Asia, and India is high. POSCO maintains order based production and sales system, and to secure stable sales, the proportion of direct sales to customers in domestic sales is maintained at about 60%. POSCO continues to strive to strengthen its competitiveness in the midst of rapidly changing business environments such as the transition to a low-carbon eco-friendly era, accelerating technological innovation, and strengthening ESG management. The company’s competitive advantages include followings:

First, POSCO is promoting great transformation from current steelmaking process to a low-carbon, eco-friendly process.

Second, POSCO will upgrade ‘eco-friendly future product’ portfolio.

We will proactively respond to the growing demand for eco-friendly products and lead the high value-added market with the best innovative products. In order to contribute to the decarbonization of customers and society, we are expanding our low-carbon product lineup, and from 2026, we plan to produce high value-added products that reduce carbon emissions using a newly established electric furnace.

Third, POSCO implement ‘Meta-POSCO’ through digital transformation. Since 2017, the company has been gradually implementing Smart Factories that optimize, automate, and intelligentize facilities by using innovative digital technologies such as IoT, Big Data, and AI and Digital Twin models. Through deep learning that extracts optimal results by converting major variables that determine the state of the furnace into big data, Pohang Steelworks’ furnace #2 has been turned into an AI furnace.

Lastly, POSCO will realize a safe workplace without accidents and continue to strengthen ESG management. Safety is the highest value and corporate culture pursued by the company, and we are upgrading our safety system so that the company’s safety culture can leap to the highest level in the world. We are promoting the development of smart safety solutions using AI and IoT, and discovering potential risks in the field, strengthening safety activities that comply with standards.

POSCO, As an unlisted company, has no obligation to establish special committee under the board of directors, but it has not only established an ESG committee to strengthen its external communication with interested parties but also established an audit committee to support ESG governance.

(2) Market Share

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∎ POSCO STEELEON

POSCO Steeleon provides differentiated value through technology development and new market development with design/solution provision in both domestic and overseas surface treatment steel market.

The surface-treated steel market is divided into a general-purpose material and a high-end material market, and the general-purpose material market is highly competitive due to technological leveling and the influx of low-priced goods from China. On the other hand, we believe that the high-end material market can not only create high added value but also grow in terms of market size.

Though there are oversupply of domestic and foreign steel products and sluggish demand industries, POSCO Steeleon is striving to secure a stable profit base and expand market share by improving the competitiveness of high valued-added products such as aluminum coated sheets, high corrosion resistance galvanized steel sheets, Print/Lami color steel sheets and etc.

POSCO Steeleon is striving to strengthen its competitiveness in the high-end construction/exterior materials through research and development based on customers. In addition, POSCO Steeleon is preparing to expand its overseas business by securing a bridgehead in Southeast Asia, where rapid growth is expected through the operation of color steel sheet production line (50,000 tons) and coated steel sheet production line(20,000 ton) in Yangon, Myanmar.

∎ POSCO M-TECH

(1) Summary of Business

POSCO M-TECH is a specialized supplier of steel products packaging and steel supplementary materials such as aluminum deoxidizers which is needed to remove oversaturated oxygen in steelmaking process. In case of steel products packaging, POSCO M-TECH continuously develops packaging machines and materials. POSCO M-TECH is currently processing POSCO’s coil packing, and trying to apply new packaging technology, commercialize environmentally friendly packaging alternatives, and globalize the competitiveness of the packaging business in order to ensure that the coil packaging business continues as the company’s stable sales base in the future.

(2) Business Areas

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(3) Market Share

B. Green Infrastructure [Trading segment]

There are 39 subsidiaries in trading segment including POSCO International, 26 subsidiaries in construction segment including POSCO E&C and 14 subsidiaries of logistics and etc. segment including POSCO Flow and POSCO DX.

∎ POSCO INTERNATIONAL

(1) Market Share

POSCO International’s export performance in the first quarter of 2024 was $2.2 billion based on a customs clearance basis, down 2.96% from the previous quarter. Korea’s overall export performance increased 8.30% quarter-on-quarter, and the company’s performance to Korea’s total performance was 1.32%.

(2) Summary of Businesses

While focusing on trading which is its main business, POSCO International is engaged in resource development, production processing, and infrastructure development and operation.

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POSCO International and its consolidated subsidiaries engage in three major businesses: trading, energy and investment(food resources, motor core for EV, mineral resource development and etc).

[Global Business Sector]

[Energy Sector]

The company has classified its business units into the energy sector, including the Gas Business Unit, Energy Project Development Unit, Energy Infrastructure Unit, and domestic and overseas investment corporations related to power generation such as SENEX Energy.

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The by-product gas power plant facility, which was completed in 2014, is equipped with a capacity of 200 MW. It produces electricity using by-product gas generated by integrated steelworks in Indonesia. It currently generates electricity that can be used by about 600,000 households as of 2024.

In 2019, POSCO International completed construction of an onshore wind power plant in Jaeun-myeon region of Shinan-gun, Jeonnam. The capacity of the onshore wind power plant is 62.7 MW and it annually reduces 49,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

Since entering Papua New Guinea, it has completed an additional 34MW heavy oil power plant in LAE in 2017. It has started commercial operations with generation of long-term power sales over the next 15 years.

[New business investment]

In addition, POSCO International is searching for new opportunities in four new growth businesses areas which include smart farm, green materials, green mobility and hydrogen.

B. Green Infrastructure [Construction segment]

∎ POSCO E&C

POSCO E&C engages in primarily 3 businesses: plant, civil engineering(infrastructure) and construction.

Plant business is the construction of integrated steel mills, EPC projects and industrial plants.

The plant market is expected to continue to grow in the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the CIS region, and domestic companies are actively entering overseas markets.

Plant business used to focus on small investment of existing facilities but there will be more new investments in Electric furnace and hydrogen reduction process followed by global green trend. As nuclear power generation is getting attention again, the development of small nuclear power plants is expected to become active.

The civil engineering business is about constructing expressways, railroads and bridges. According to the government’s policy to strengthen regional competitiveness, the construction of regional hubs such as Gadeokdo New Airport, Daegu Gyeongbuk New Airport, and Jeju 2nd Airport will begin, and the road network expansion project such as the Seoul Metropolitan Railway (GTX) will continue to connect major metropolitan areas. It is expected that more favorable overseas construction market would be created for the domestic construction companies as demand of infrastructure development is increasing in Asia, Middle East, Americas as well as in Europe.

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Housing demand is shrinking after a sharp rate hike, and number of unsold households are increasing around areas where supply has been concentrated. Recently, concerns have been growing that new orders will shrink as funding has been suspended due to the financial market crunch. Housing market conditions rapidly deteriorated due to sudden interest rate increases, rising construction costs, and a slump in the construction PF market. In terms of overseas market, domestic construction companies have entered Southeast Asia, where urbanization is actively underway, but for now, construction companies’ risk management is expected to be the top priority due to growing economic uncertainties around the world.

POSCO E&C has the top class construction capabilities, product development capabilities, and commercialization capabilities in the field of high-rise buildings and large-scale new city development. Representatively, POSCO E&C is leading the Songdo International Business City Development Project and have successfully completed high-rise/supersize landmark projects such as POSCO Tower Songdo, Busan Haeundae LCT, and Yeouido Park One.

In Overseas, POSCO E&C continues to seek new business opportunities based on the experience in developing and constructing various buildings such as hotels, offices, and residences in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, China, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

B. Green Infrastructure [Logistics and etc. segment]

∎ POSCO DX

POSCO DX has both IT and OT technologies and has secured competitiveness in its manufacturing-based business on the convergence of IT and OT technologies. When domestic ICT market size is estimated to be KRW 39.5 trillion, POSCO DX is expected to take about 3.8% of domestic ICT market share (ICT market for local corporates only). POSCO DX will continue to adopt POSCO Group’s capabilities in digital transformation, logistics automation, and industrial robot system engineering businesses to create new success stories for sustainable growth even in business environments lots of uncertainties. Based on POSCO Group’s One IT strategy, POSCO DX is expecting to add value by developing IT infrastructure and strengthening the competitiveness of Smart Factory business.

The experiences operating POSCO’s Smart Factory based on big data, IoT and AI-based platform, led the company to have a strength in the area of continuous and automation process. With its experiences in POSCO’s smart factory construction, POSCO DX is planning to support the mass production system of EV battery materials. In addition, POSCO DX will expand the logistics automation business market with the successful completion of the logistics business in progress. While diversifying logistic business sectors POSCO DX will actively participate new airport BHS project and contribute to the groups’ advancement of the group’s logistic system.

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C. Green Materials and Energy

Green Materials and Energy segment include the business related to EV battery materials, such as lithium, nickel, cathode material, anode material, and recycling, and there are a total of 17 subsidiaries, including POSCO Future M and POSCO Argentina.

∎ POSCO Future M

POSCO Future M operates mainly 2 businesses: basic material business and energy material business.

[Basic industrial materials business]

[Energy material business]

In the energy material business, POSCO Future M provides cathode and anode materials which are the main components for secondary cell: cathode, anode, electrolyte and separation membrane. It is planned to produce 74 thousand ton/year of natural graphite anode materials in 2026. In addition, artificial graphite production is expected to increase from production capacity of 8 thousand ton/year in 2023 to 38 thousand ton/year in 2026. Furthermore, cathode material production is expected to increase from 155 thousands ton/year to 395 thousands ton/year by 2026. Most of the precursors that are put into the production of anode materials are currently sourced from China, but POSCO Future M plans to achieve a high level of internalization by securing 215 thousand tons/year production capacity by 2026. Due to environment-friendly policy with less carbon emission worldwide, demands for Energy Storage System and Electric Vehicle are expected to grow continuously.

The secondary battery business is expected to continue to grow due to expansion of the EV and ESS markets in accordance with each country’s energy-saving policies. In particular, the secondary battery market for electric vehicles is expected to reach about 50% in 2030 from 16% in 2023 due to China’s policy to foster the electric vehicle industry, European CO₂ emission regulations, and global OEM companies’ increasing share of electric vehicle models. As a result, electric vehicle sales are expected to reach 14 million units in 2023, 16.4 million units in 2024, and 40.7 million units in 2030. Along with this growth, POSCO Future M is generating revenues through supplying battery materials to major EV battery makers such as LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On and etc.

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POSCO Group has established full battery material value chain from raw materials business to battery materials and recycling business. As the only domestic producer of graphite-based anode materials, which are considered to have the highest degree of difficulty in achieving independence from Chinese imports, POSCO Future M is expected to expand its sales revenues in working with global automakers and battery producers. In specific, POSCO Future M established a joint venture (Ultium CAM) with GM in August 2022 to begin construction of high nickel cathode plant in Canada with a production capacity of a 30 thousand ton per year. It is planned to be completed in the second half of 2024 and to start production in the first half of 2025. For lithium, which is a raw material for anode materials, POSCO HOLDINGS (the largest shareholder of POSCO Future M) plans to establish a 71 thousand tons production system in 2024 through investment in Argentina salt lakes and Australian mines and expand its production capacity to 423 thousand tons by 2030.

Considering POSCO Future M’s cathode material production capacity and lithium input amount, lithium self-sufficiency rate is expected to exceed 100% by 2030. In addition, POSCO HOLDINGS plans to establish a 240 thousand ton nickel production system by 2030 by expanding its investment in securing nickel through mining, smelting and recycling.

D. Others

In Others segment, there are 12 subsidiaries in total, including POSCO HOLDINGS. POSCO HOLDINGS is focusing on investment in new growth businesses and opportunities.

3. Key Products

A. Sales of Key Products (2024.1Q)

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B. Price Movement Trends of Key Products

[Steel]

(1) Criteria for Calculation

(a) Subjects for Calculation: Unit sales prices of the standard hot-rolled product and cold-rolled product

(b) Calculation Method and Unit: The average price of each product based on its total sales including the freight costs during the given period.

(2) Factors of Price Changes

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Since the beginning of 2024, high interest rates, high prices, and high exchange rates have continued, and the economic slump has been prolonged due to a slump in China’s real estate market and continued instability in the Middle East. Market prices have been on the decline since the peak in December 2023 as is difficult to be recovered due to the slowdown in some demand industries, including construction.

[Green Infrastructure]

(1) Criteria for Calculation

(a) Subjects for Calculation: Price of electric power

(b) Calculation Method and Unit: Unit price per electric power ÷ Net power volume generated

(2) Factors of Price Changes

Power : Korea Gas Corporation cost, etc.

* The cost consists of introduction cost, supply cost, etc., and is affected by crude oil and exchange rates

[Green materials and Energy]

(1) Criteria for Calculation

(a) Subjects for Calculation: Unit price of refractory and quicklime

(b) Calculation Method and Unit: The average price of each product based on its total sales including the freight costs during the given period.

(2) Factors of Price Changes

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4. Major Raw Materials

A. Current Status of Major Raw Materials

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B. Price Movement Trends of Major Raw Materials

[Steel]

(1) Iron Ore : Iron ore prices fell 3% quarter-on-quarter to U$113/tonne in the first quarter of 2024 amid continued downside factors such as low margins for steelmakers, weak production and increased port inventories following the steel recession.

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(2) Coal : The coal prices in the first quarter of 2024 were down 8% quarter-on-quarter to U$308/ton, indicating overall weakness in demand following a gradual recovery from heavy rain-hit mines in Australia and a slowdown in the global steel economy in general.

(3) Scrap : Iron scrap prices rose 2% quarter-on-quarter to U$392/to in the first quarter of 2024, driven by lower supply following worsening scrap demand in the winter season.

(4) Nickel : Nickel prices fell 4% quarter-on-quarter to U$16,589/ton due to weak demand from secondary batteries/STS and continued oversupply in Indonesia.

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[Green Infrastructure]

(1) Criteria for Calculation

[Green Materials and Energy]

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5. Production and Facilities

A. Production Capacity

[Steel]

∎ POSCO

∎ POSCO STEELEON

∎ POSCO M-TECH

[Green Infrastructure]

∎ POSCO INTERNATIONAL

[Green Materials and Energy]

∎ POSCO FUTURE M

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B. Production Result and Capacity Utilization Rate

[Steel]

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[Green Infrastructure]

∎ POSCO INTERNATIONAL

(1) Production Result

(2) Capacity Utilization Rate

[Green Materials and Energy]

∎ POSCO FUTURE M

(1) Production Result

(2) Capacity Utilization Rate (2024.1Q)

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C. Production Facilities

(1) The current status of production facilities

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(2) New Facility Establishment, Purchase, Etc.

(a) Investments under Construction

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