Posco Chemical breaks ground, building for nickel cathode plant begins in Pohang

Posco Chemical, a South Korean chemical and battery materials manufacturer, announced on Thursday, April 7, that it has officially started the construction of its new facility in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

As per The Korea Herald, the new Posco Chemical plant will have the capacity to produce 30,000 metric tons of high-purity nickel cathodes, which is the main raw material used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles.

The company, which is a subsidiary of the Posco Group steelmaking giant, is expecting to start operations at the plant by the year 2024. The factory is set to rise on sprawling land that measures 120,000 square meters. Posco Chemical already invested around ₩290 billion or approximately $240 million for the facility, but it is still adding more funds to double its production capacity to 60,000 tons by 2025.

With the amplified production capacity, it was said that the number of materials that will be produced is enough to make batteries that can power about 600,000 high-performance EVs per year. This will give the company some ₩2.5 trillion in sales.

In any case, this new Posco Chemical plant in Pohang will specifically make NCMA cathodes that contain nickel, aluminum, cobalt, and manganese. This type of cathode is rich in nickel which is the source of energy for lithium that is normally found in lithium-ion batteries.

Posco Chemical said that by applying its unique expertise in developing these NCMA cathodes, with added thermal stability by including aluminum in the mix, it was able to manufacture nickel cathodes with 90% in purity. Later this year, the company is aiming for an upgrade and will run tests to achieve 96% purity for its productions.

Meanwhile, the funding for the Pohang plant comes as the second round of large-scale investment by the Posco Group, Posco Chemical’s parent company, to build materials production facilities this year. The firm also intends to establish an additional production network in key EV markets in Europe, China, North America, and Indonesia.

“POSCO Chemical built up a value chain including raw ingredients and commercial production of the materials in cooperation with POSCO Group,” Korea Economic Daily quoted Posco Chemical’s chief executive officer, Min Kyung Zoon, as saying in a statement.