POSCO FLOW

- Relief supplies collected by students at Samsung Girls’ High School in Busan and citizens put on hold for a year due to freight cost and problem in finding the cargo ship.

- POSCO FLOW decides to deliver the goods to Haiti in collaboration with shipping companies upon hearing the news.

- The first year for POSCO FLOW to catapult into an integrated logistics service provider. The company will carry out the POSCO Group’s management philosophy of corporate citizenship.

POSCO FLOW open doors to relief supplies headed to Haiti, an island nation in the Caribbean struck by deadly earthquakes. They had been held back in Korea for one year due to transportation problems.

In August 2021, Haiti was struck by 7.2-magnitude earthquake, killing over 1,300 people and destroying the island country. Students at Samsung Girls’ High School in Busan heard the news about the disaster and the donation campaign and prepared relief goods for Haiti residents by voluntarily collecting their allowances. Busan citizens and students from other schools who empathized with the cause together with business people who were moved by the story joined in resulting in relief supplies worth 120 million won. Relief goods included 30,000 pairs of shoes, 50,000 pieces of clothes, pianos, and bicycles so that four containers were needed.

However, COVID-19 pushed up the maritime transport costs and it was difficult to find a cargo ship, forcing them to hold up the relief supplies for over 10 months at a corner of Samsung Girls’ High School’s sports ground. 

▲ Containers holding relief goods left unattended for over 10 months due to soaring logistics prices (on the left). Relief goods inside a container (in the center). Additional boxes of relief items piled up inside the school building (on the right).

▲ A thank you letter sent by Samsung Girls’ High School students to the POSCO Group (left). Samsung Girls’ High School students expressing their appreciation with thank you messages that filled up the entire whiteboard (right).

POSCO Flow learned about the news and visited the school right away to investigate the situation. POSCO FLOW examined what could be done based on its logistics infrastructure but realized they did not have ships traveling directly to Haiti. It even cost over 120 million won so it seemed difficult to find the solution in the beginning. Regardless, POSCO continued to seek help from partner companies and is scheduled to ship relief supplies with a shipping company that is related with the purpose in August. 

Hearing the news, Samsung Girls’ High School students could not hide their joy that they sent heartfelt letters saying thanks to the POSCO Group.

Samsung Girls’ High School student Seo-young Lee who wrote President Yoon a letter said, “It is so rewarding that the cargo will actually be sent after being held for over a year after sending the president a letter feeling skittish. I hope they are shipped as soon as possible so the Haitians can pull themselves together and overcome the crisis. I am happy that this has finally happened with the help of POSCO.”

Another Samsung Girls’ High School student Yoo-ha Im who donated relief goods said, “I was worried and felt bad that heartfelt relief supplies collected were just left in a corner of the sports ground. But when Seo-young wrote a letter, it made headlines in the news and POSCO offered their help. It is just amazing and I felt awesome to see this happen. I should say good-bye when the container is shipped away.”

POSCO FLOW CEO Kwang-soo Kim said, “We just supported the good will of the students and I’m thankful to them for sending the thank you letter they made themselves. It is meaningful that we can play a role in sending the relief items to Haiti as a corporate citizen as POSCO FLOW takes its first step into the integrated logistics business. We will do our best to start a positive trend in the society with our management philosophy of corporate citizenship, and establish POSCO FLOW as a global end-to-end logistics company beloved by global customers.”