[News Article] Posco Holdings to boost EV battery value chain integration
Posco Holdings to
boost EV battery value chain integration By Byun Hye-jin, The
Korea Herald - Posco Holdings said on Friday it has reduced its dependence on
China by strengthening the integration of its electric vehicle battery value
chain that covers mining and refining minerals, manufacturing materials and
recycling batteries. “It’s almost
impossible to be a top-tier firm in the battery materials business without the
vertical integration of manufacturing,” said Nam Sang-cheol, head of the
research and development division at Posco Holdings, during the Korea Advanced
Battery Conference 2023 hosted by SNE Research in Seoul. “The competition over
securing raw materials, in particular, will be fierce.” Along with its
subsidiaries including Posco Future M, Posco Holdings is setting up global
production bases for battery raw materials – lithium, nickel, cathode, anode,
precursor and natural graphite -- Nam said. The company is
building a production plant for lithium hydroxide at the Hombre Muerto salt
lake in Argentina and a nickel manufacturing plant in Indonesia, which has the
largest nickel reserve. The lithium and nickel production facilities are
scheduled to complete construction and start commercial operation in 2025. It signed a
long-term supply deal for natural graphite with a firm in Tanzania. Production
facilities for precursors are under construction in Canada and Indonesia as
well. With the goal of
hitting 62 trillion won ($46.7 billion) in sales by 2030, the company aims to
produce 423,000 metric tons of lithium, 240,000 tons of nickel, 1 million tons
of anode and 370,000 tons of cathode materials annually. Highlighting the
importance of eco-friendly battery recycling, Nam said the company is working
on developing a closed-loop recycling system -- a one-stop process of
converting a used product into raw materials to create a new one. Nam added that the
battery materials maker is also ramping up its development of next-generation
battery materials. “In terms of anode
materials, (Posco Holdings and Posco Future M) are the only companies that
manufacture both natural and artificial graphites. Our goal is to reduce the
price of those materials,” said Nam. “We also plan to start commercial
production of silicon-based anode from 2025.” Posco is developing
a cost-effective solid electrolyte, a key material for all-solid-state
batteries, and plans to start operation of the pilot production line through
its subsidiary Posco JK Solid Solution next year. Source:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230915000583
2023.09.20
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