To Reinforce Value Chain for EV Battery Materials
POSCO Holdings will invest US$4 billion (about 4.9 trillion won) in its lithium business in Argentina.
POSCO Group chairman Choi Jung-woo met with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez at the Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires on March 21 (local time) to discuss cooperation in the battery material business. On the day, POSCO Group signed a US$4 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Argentine government to promote lithium plant expansion and cooperation in production of cathode materials.
In particular, POSCO plans to ramp up the production of lithium hydroxide, which is in high demand, to 100,000 tons by 2030. It intends to produce cathode materials in Argentina, further solidifying its value chain in secondary battery materials.
POSCO Group selected steel, secondary battery materials, lithium/nickel, hydrogen, energy, building/infrastructure and food as its seven major future growth drivers and is concentrating its investment in these areas. In the lithium business, the company is looking to emerge as the global No. 1 manufacturer with a production capacity of 220,000 tons by 2030.
POSCO Group took over the salt lake of Hombre Muerto in Argentina in 2018 and has recently completed the construction of infrastructure necessary for lithium production and the verification of a demonstration plant. It is to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a commercial plant on March 23.
“I am grateful that POSCO Group made a large-scale investment in Argentina’s salt lake to directly produce lithium,” President Fernandez said. “We will actively support this project with everything we can do.”
Argentina ranks fourth in the world in terms of lithium reserves and third in production volume. The importance of strategic cooperation with Argentina is growing as nations around the world are fiercely competing to secure lithium.