The US-based steel industry analysis firm, World Steel Dynamics rated Korean Posco as the world’s most competitive steelmaker for 2013 in a survey of 34 world-class steelmakers, making it on top of the list for the fourth consecutive year.

The surveyor is conducted by 23 indices including profitability, production capability, technological innovation, financial soundness and access to raw materials.

Posco scored the highest at 7.76 points out of 10 in the evaluation, from which it received perfect scores in the category of strategic partnerships and M&A activities compared with previous years.

Russia’s NLMK and Severstal came second and third, scoring 7.33 and 7.32 points respectively.