Posco, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, said Wednesday its third-quarter operating income more than quadrupled to a record high on robust demand amid the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operating income for the three months that ended in September reached 3.11 trillion won ($2.6 billion) on a consolidated basis, sharply up from an operating profit of 670 billion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The third-quarter operating income marks the highest-ever, and its third-quarter sales also jumped 14.26 percent on-year to 20.6 trillion won.

It did not reveal the net profit for the third quarter, which will be released later.

The steelmaker attributed the robust performance to firm demand from automakers, shipbuilders and construction companies, and an increase in prices of key products that offset a rise in the cost of raw materials, such as iron ore.

Earlier, local steelmakers and shipbuilders agreed to raise the price of steel plates used for shipbuilding to 1.1 million won during the second half of the year, from 700,000 won in the first half.

On a standalone basis, Posco logged an operating income of 2.3 trillion won on sales of 11.3 trillion won during the third quarter of the year. (Yonhap)