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POSCO, the South Korean steelmaker, is expanding to become one of the top lithium suppliers in the world. It is building a new plant. The company chose Argentina to be the location for its new factory.
POSCO is hoping it will be able to achieve its goal of becoming one of the world’s best lithium makers and suppliers by the year 2030. The company has reserved $830 million and directed this fund to the construction of its new facility in Argentina.
The plant will be extracting lithium hydroxide from a salt lake, so the building is set to rise near the Salar del Hombre Muerto salt lake in the northwestern part of the said country. According to The Korea Economic Daily, POSCO revealed on Dec. 16, Thursday, that its board of directors gave the go signal for the investment plan.
This is said to be the steelmaker’s first huge investment since announcing last week that it will transition into a holding business structure. The construction in Argentina is set to begin some time next year.
By 2024, POSCO’s plant is expected to extract 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year. This amount is sufficient enough to make 600,000 electric vehicle batteries. In the following years, the company is planning to double the plant’s capacity.
In any case, the $830 million budget already includes expected expenses for the construction as well as the initial operating expenses. The salt lake was acquired by POSCO in 2018 for $280 million. The body of water measures 17,500 hectares and contains 13.5 million tons of lithium reserves which were estimated to be worth ₩35 trillion.
Once POSCO starts the lithium extraction in Argentina, it will become the only Korean company to produce lithium from saltwater, used batteries, and ores. Lithium hydroxide is taken out from saltwater and used with high-nickel cathode material to make batteries for EVs.
Finally, Yonhap News Agency reported that the material that POSCO will be able to extract from the Argentinian saltwater would be able to make batteries for a total of 370 million electric cars. In its home ground, the company is also laying out plans to boost its annual lithium production capacity.
