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POSCO Chemical Co. and Samsung SDI have agreed to join forces for the supply of cathode materials for the production of electric vehicle batteries. The companies signed a deal worth KRW40 trillion or about $33 billion on Monday, Jan. 30.
As per Yonhap News Agency, the share price of POSCO Chemical immediately surged after the news of cooperation with the Samsung Group’s battery and electronic materials unit. This is because the Korean battery material firm is in the lead as automakers look for stable parts supply for their own productions.
POSCO Chemical revealed that the contract it signed with Samsung SDI is its largest-ever long-term deal related to the supply of key battery components for making EV battery cells. It was agreed the company would provide the latter with high-nickel cathodes, which are made up of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and aluminum.
The supply will continue for a period of 10 years, and shipments are set to begin this year. The cathodes are crucial in EV battery production because it is the component that determines the power of the battery cells. This material is said to account for over 40% of the total battery production cost.
This new deal comes after POSCO Chemical secured a KRW13.7 trillion cathode supply deal with Ultium Cells last year. The latter is a U.S.-based firm that was formed via a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution.
Meanwhile, POSCO Chemical said that it has achieved record-high sales recently, and it was credited to the strong growth of its battery materials unit. “Thanks to the growth of its battery materials business, POSCO Chemical has achieved the highest level of business performance since its foundation, exceeding 3 trillion KRW in annual sales,” the company said in a statement.
The company added that its battery materials business’ sales increased by 127.6% from the previous year to KRW1,938.3 billion and this was “driven by increases in sales volume and sales price due to increased demand for electric vehicle batteries and new orders landed for energy storage systems (ESS).
