Posco ships first batch of domestically produced EV battery materials

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Posco ships first batch of domestically produced EV battery materials

Published: 19 Apr. 2024, 14:44 Updated: 19 Apr. 2024, 17:02

SARAH CHEA
chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr

Posco-Pilbara Lithium Solution CEO Lee Kyung-sup, sixth from the left in the front row, and other executives take a photo celebrating the shipment of the first batch of lithium hydroxide at its factory in South Jeolla on April 16. [POSCO HOLDINGS]

Posco Holdings has sent out the first batch of domestically produced EV battery materials with the shipment of lithium hydroxide to a client.

The Korean company said Friday that Posco-Pilbara Lithium Solution, a joint venture between Posco Holdings and Australian miner Pilbara Minerals, supplied 28 tons of lithium hydroxide on April 16 to a client that produces cathode materials.

Lithium hydroxide is one of the core materials used to make cathodes, accounting for 40 percent of the production cost of an EV battery.

Posco-Pilbara Lithium Solution in November completed the construction of its lithium hydroxide plant in the Yulchon industrial complex in South Jeolla. It is the first of its kind in Korea, which has thus far been heavily dependent on China for the materials.

The joint venture is currently building a second factory, which will be finished within the year. It will boost the total capacity to 43,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, which is enough to make batteries for one million EVs.

In 2018, Posco acquired mining rights of the Hombre Muerto salt lake from Australia-based Galaxy Resources for $280 million. It discovered that the lake has 13.5 million tons of lithium reserves, six times the amount it was projected to have in 2018.

Posco Holdings has been building a 50,000-ton two-stage lithium factory in Argentina since 2022, and the first stage is expected to be completed this year.

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