Poongsan Corporation () is a South Korean manufacturer of

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

and

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...

materials,

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

and precision

forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

products founded in 1968. The company's main business areas are

non-ferrous metal In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloys that do not contain iron ( allotropes of iron, ferrite, and so on) in appreciable amounts. Generally more costly than ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals are used because of desirable pro ...

processing, such as

bi-metallic coin Bi-metallic coins are coins consisting of two ('' bi-'') metals or alloys, generally arranged with an outer ring around a contrasting center. Common circulating examples include the €1, €2, United Kingdom £1 and £2, Canadian $2, Sout ...

s and copper alloy products, which account for 70% of sales, and it also manufactures various military

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

, and

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicle ...

s. As of 2023, bimetallic coin products produced in Poongsan are exported to more than 70 countries and account for more than 50% of the global coin blank market.

History

Non-ferrous metal industry

The Poongsan was established as Poongsan Metal Industry Co., Ltd. () in October 1968, and began producing copper alloy products after completing the Bupyeong plant in 1969. The company began supplying brass coin blanks to Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation in 1970, and in 1973, it entered the export market by winning a contract to supply coin blanks worth $3.5 million to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Starting with the first overseas supply, in 1985, it won a contract to supply 7,500 tons of coin blanks to India. By the late 1980s, coin blanks produced in Poongsan had been supplied to 30 countries, and manufactured

commemorative coin A commemorative coin is a coin issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Some coins of this category serve as collector's items only, while most commemora ...

s for the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In the 1990s, the company developed its own bimetallic coin for

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

currency made of copper alloy materials and began supplying it to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 2001. The company's revenue in the coin blank market has been declining annually since 2013 due to the decline in the use of

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

with the spread of electronic payment systems.

Defense industry

In 1970, it was designated as one of the five key companies for South Korea's industrialization policy and became the first private company to enter the defense industry. Later, in 1973, the Angang Ammunition Plant was completed in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and it was also South Korea's first defense industry facility. As a result of accelerating the industrialization of import substitution by research and development from 1973, in the late 1970s, all kinds of small, medium, and large-caliber rounds used in the Korean military began to be produced, and the localization rate of parts was 95 percent. In 1982, after acquiring the 1st armory in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, it established a subsidiary, PMC, to produce various military and sports rounds based on small-caliber ammunition manufacturing technology. Under an agreement with the South Korean government, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

reportedly imported a total of 600,000

155 mm The 155 mm calibre is widely used for artillery guns. Land warfare Historic calibres France - 1874 The caliber originated in France after the Franco-Prussian War, Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). A French artillery committee met on 2 ...

rounds from the

South Korean military The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the Military, armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel ...

and Poongsan from 2022 to 2023 and provided them to Ukraine to cover the Ukrainian military's scarce ammunition inventory. The impact of the

Russo-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

has sent demand and prices for military ammunition soaring, and exports of various large-caliber rounds abroad boosted sales in the company's defense division in 2023. In August 2024, Poongsan reportedly asked the Ministry of Defense and the

Defense Acquisition Program Administration The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA, ) is a central administrative agency of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense. It was founded on 1 January 2006 as part of a comprehensive reform of defense acquisition, including the ...

to approve the export to export 81 mm mortar shells to

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Later, in October 2024, the Ministry of Defense and Defense Acquisition Program Administration expressed their position that ammunition exports would be possible if the

lot number A lot number is an identification number assigned to a particular quantity or lot of material from a single manufacturer. Lot numbers can typically be found on the outside of packaging. For cars, a lot number is combined with a serial number to fo ...

and country of origin information were removed and a non-disclosure contract was signed.

Businesses

Non-ferrous meterial

Copper applications are Poongsan's main area of expertise. The company produces

and copper alloy sheets and strips, tubes, rods, and wires for use in various industries. Poongsan is one of the world's largest suppliers of coin blanks. It was Korea's sole coin manufacturer in 1970, and it first exported coin blanks to

in 1973, then to other countries, including the EU and the U.S.

Defence

Poongsan produces a variety of ammunition types, such as 5.56-millimeter rifle bullets, 155 mm howitzer shells,

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

shells,

mortar shells A mortar today is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, Muzzleloader, muzzle-loaded cannon, consisting of a Smoothbore, smooth-bore (although some models use a Rifling, rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the r ...

, tank shells, and naval artillery shells. The

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

is Poongsan's largest ammunition export destination. The

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

is a major market and also exports to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

PMC Ammunition

PMC Ammunition, or ''Precision Made Cartridges'', is manufactured in South Korea by the Poongsan Corporation (ISO certified) which produces cartridges ranging from small arms ammunition to large howitzer rounds for military and law enforcement, as well as civilian ammunition for consumers.

Products

* 5.56×45mm NATO * 105×617mmR *

120×570mm NATO 120×570mm NATO tank ammunition (4.7 inch), also known as 120×570mmR, is a common, NATO-standard (STANAG 4385), tank gun semi-combustible cartridge used by 120mm smoothbore guns, superseding the earlier 105×617mmR cartridge used in NATO-stand ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded Defence companies of South Korea Manufacturing companies based in Seoul Manufacturing companies established in 1968 South Korean brands South Korean companies established in 1968