POSCO Chemical Will Produce High-nickel Terpolymer Materials For Electric Vehicles Starting in 2023

Seoul, Aug. 25 (Yonhap news agency) -- POSCO CHEMICAL has decided to invest 281 billion won (about 1.56 billion yuan) in a battery precursor/cathode material production line jointly built in China by POSCO Group and China's Huayou Cobalt, the company said on Thursday.

In March 2018, POSCO and Huayou Co established a joint venture to produce battery precursor/cathode materials in Tongxiang city, Zhejiang Province. The two plants have an annual capacity of 5,000 tons each. On top of that, POSCO CHEMICAL will invest in a new terpolymer/cathode material production plant with a capacity of 30,000 tons per year to increase that to 35,000 tons per year.

The plant will start construction in the second half of this year and produce high-nickel terpolymer materials for electric vehicles from 2023. The 35,000-ton lithium-ion battery cathode material can be used by 390,000 60-kilowatt hour (kWh) electric vehicles. The cathode materials produced by the factory will be supplied to Chinese battery companies and Korean battery companies entering China.

Leading Chinese battery companies accounted for 43% of the global power battery market in the first half of this year, according to global emerging energy market research firm SNE. China accounted for 48 percent of POSCO CHEMICAL's sales of secondary battery materials last year. The company announced that it would build its first overseas foothold in China, thus making a comprehensive foray into the overseas market. Direct production and sales of cathode materials in China, where large battery companies gather, are expected to timely meet market demand and lay a foundation for expanding customer base.

After entering the Chinese market, POSCO CHEMICAL plans to build a global supply network of 160,000 tons domestically and 110,000 tons overseas by 2025 by setting up branches in the United States and The European Union, where demand for electric vehicles is soaring.