Posco Future M breaks ground EV battery materials plant in Gwangyang

Industry

Published: 22 Feb. 2024, 15:33

Posco Future M breaks ground EV battery materials plant in Gwangyang

Posco Future M President Kim Jun-hyung, fifth from left, Kim Ik-hyeon, vice president at Samsung SDI, and other executives turn a shovel during a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a high-nickel cathode plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, on Thursday. [POSCO FUTURE M]

GWANGYANG, South Jeolla — Ground was broken Thursday for Posco Future M’s high-nickel cathode materials plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla.

It is the second NCA cathode-dedicated plant for the Korean company, which also began construction on a plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang in April of last year. Posco Future M invested 683.4 billion won ($510 million) in the plant.

The plant aims to produce 52,500 tons of nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) cathodes per year, which is enough to make batteries for 580,000 EVs.

Cathodes are one of four core materials in batteries that play a vital role in deciding their price as they account for up to 40 percent of its cost. NCA cathodes are known for their efficiency in maximizing a battery's energy density and output.

The cathodes will be exclusively supplied to Samsung SDI as the two signed a $3 billion deal in January last year.

Posco said it will produce single-crystal cathodes with 86 percent nickel content, created by combining various metals into a single particle shape. Such cathodes are known to have a longer life span and larger capacity compared to their polycrystalline cathode counterparts.

The factory is scheduled to be completed in April 2025.

Posco Future M’s cathode capacity stands at 155,000 tons so far, and it aims to boost that figure to 1 million tons by 2030.

The company currently has another 90,000-ton facility in Gwangyang; a 30,000-ton factory in Pohang; a 10,000-ton facility in Gumi, North Gyeongsang; and a 5,000-ton facility in China.

It is building a 30,000-ton cathode plant in Quebec, Canada, with General Motors and another 30,000-ton plant in Zhejiang, China, in a joint venture with Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.

“Posco Future M will respond to the inestimable EV market with the expansion of NCA cathodes,” Posco Future M President Kim Jun-hyung said at the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday.

Posco Future M has landed 106 trillion won worth of orders so far from various major battery makers including Samsung SDI, LG Energy Solution and Ultium Cells.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]