ISTANBUL 

POSCO has signed a strategic partnership with Glenfarne Alaska LNG to develop Alaska's liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, making it the first South Korean company to officially join the major US energy initiative backed by US President Donald Trump, Glenfarne announced Thursday.

The deal, signed during the ongoing Gastech conference in Milan, Italy, named POSCO, a key gas importer in South Korea, as a partner to Glenfarne, the project’s lead private developer. Final approval needs the consent of the boards of both companies.

The agreement outlined plans for POSCO to supply a large portion of the steel needed for an 807-mile (nearly 1,300-kilometer) high-pressure pipeline linking south-central Alaska to an LNG export terminal in the southern part of the state.

Additionally, POSCO signed a 20-year heads of agreement to purchase 1 million tons of LNG annually on a free-on-board basis, marking the first such agreement for Alaskan LNG, according to Glenfarne.

The Alaska LNG project, supported by the Trump administration, seeks investment from Asian nations like South Korea and Japan to export gas from Alaska to Asia.

In July, South Korea also agreed to purchase $100 billion worth of energy products from the US.

It was part of a broader $350 billion investment package aimed at securing Washington’s agreement to cut tariffs on South Korean imports from 25% to 15%.