SEOUL, Oct 23 (Reuters) - South Korean steelmaker POSCO reported a 36% decline in third-quarter operating profit, but beat market estimates as steel production and sales recovered to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the company said.

POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, said on Friday its consolidated operating profit for the July to September quarter was 667 billion won ($587.55 million) versus 1 trillion won a year earlier and an estimate of 521 billion won from 10 analysts, according to an average Refinitiv estimate.

The company's third-quarter revenue fell 11% to 14.3 trillion won. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)