Posco International, a unit of South Korean steel producer Posco, has signed a long-term deal to charter one 174,000-cbm LNG carrier from compatriot H-Line Shipping.
Posco International, which merged with Posco Energy earlier this year said in a statement on Wednesday that South Korea’s Hyundai Samho will build this LNG carrier and deliver it in the first half of 2025.
The firm said it will use this chartered LNG carrier to transport US shale gas to South Korea from 2026 to 2046.
In May 2022, Posco International signed a 20-year deal with Cheniere Marketing, a unit of US LNG exporting giant Cheniere, to buy LNG from the Corpus Christi expansion project in Texas.
Under the deal, Cheniere Marketing will supply about 0.4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG to Posco International on a free-on-board basis, beginning in late 2026.
With this charter, Posco International will boost its LNG business and the firm plans to secure more vessels in the future, it said.
Posco International operates the 5.2 mtpa Gwangyang LNG terminal, Korea’s first private LNG terminal besides the Kogas-owned facilities.
The facility currently has five storage tanks, while Posco International is also expanding the LNG import terminal at Gwangyang with the addition of a sixth tank.
In addition, the firm started building in January this year two more LNG storage tanks with a capacity of 200,000 kiloliters on a site near the LNG terminal.