Flames that erupted from a burst gas pipe near a blast furnace at POSCO's Pohang Steelworks on Saturday morning were extinguished about two hours later.

Fire authorities said they brought the fire under control at around 9 a.m. Some 30 firetrucks and about 100 personnel were deployed in the effort.

No human losses were reported from the blaze, but the fire did cause brief power outages at much of the facility, hampering production.

POSCO said that although power output fell for a time when the fire disrupted the supply of gas, emergency generators were able to provide electricity to the plant's major facilities. 

It added that five of the steelwork's seven power generators were operating normally, as were its blast furnaces and FINEX facilities.

The company said the large amount of black smoke that emerged from the plant at the beginning of the blaze was from the discharge of gas, not the fire.