Target lithium production volume of 423,000 tons and sales of 13.6 trillion won by 2030
Diversification of nickel resource acquisition… Plan to secure stability of cathode raw material supply chain

POSCO Group shared its business plan for the global secondary battery market and said it is actively diversifying its portfolio along with diversifying its resource acquisition.

Park Jae-beom, a senior researcher at the POSCO Research Institute, appeared as a speaker at the 'Secondary Battery Materials, Components, Equipment, and Recycling Conference' of 'Battery Korea 2023' held at the COEX Grand Ballroom on the 1st and announced the lithium, nickel, cathode, and anode material business plans and goals, referring to materials from POSCO Holdings.

POSCO Group announced that its business plan for lithium will be to successfully enter the salt lake and mine-based market and expand production by utilizing these resources at a time when non-traditional resources are shrinking.

In the case of brine, POSCO's goal is to secure 100,000 tons of lithium hydroxide by expanding production based on Argentina's salt lakes and to secure 220,000 tons of lithium hydroxide through cooperation with lithium mines in Canada and Australia.

He also conveyed the goal of securing lithium hydroxide by additionally securing non-traditional raw materials such as genetic brine, geothermal brine, and clay, which are abundant in North America.

POSCO plans to increase lithium production capacity to 423,000 tons in 2030, up from 300,000 tons in 2022, and increase sales to 11.7 trillion won in 2022.The company set its business goal as to become one of the top 3 global companies, with sales of 13.6 trillion won, up 1.9%.

As part of its business plan for nickel, POSCO announced that it would diversify its resource acquisition to secure a stable supply chain for cathode raw materials.

Senior Researcher Park Jae-beom said that in order to diversify nickel resource acquisition, it is necessary to: △accelerate the acquisition of intermediate materials, △additionally secure low-carbon raw materials based on new wet smelting technology, and △supply nickel based on securing economic feasibility.

POSCO said it is preparing for securing intermediate products such as nickel matte and MHP as important matters and has plans to develop technology to reduce CO2 emissions related to wet smelting.

Senior Researcher Park then said that they are looking at other countries (such as Brazil and Australia) other than Indonesia to secure nickel supply based on economic feasibility.

POSCO is gearing up to emerge as an eco-friendly, high-purity nickel specialist by securing 240,000 tons of nickel by 2030, and increasing nickel production from 220,000 tons in 2022 to 240,000 tons in 2030 is expected to be key.

In the case of cathode materials, POSCO is focusing on diversifying its portfolio.

POSCO said that in addition to NCM batteries, it will expand its market position through product diversification such as LFP and LLO, and secure investment competitiveness through domestic integration and cost reduction.

POSCO has presented a plan to increase its production capacity from 610,000 tons in 2022 to 1 million tons in 2030, with the goal of becoming a global top-tier cathode material producer by 2030. It also projects sales to increase from KRW 21 trillion in 2022 to KRW 36.2 trillion in 2030.

In addition, as part of the cathode material business plan, a system is established to produce and sell all products, including natural and artificial graphite and silicon-based cathode materials.He said he would do it.

POSCO is currently importing natural graphite as off-take and is also pursuing internalization of spherical graphite, so it can be seen that it has already started taking measures to reduce China's share in the graphite process.

Once all processes are completed, concerns about the IRA in the US and the CRMA in Europe are expected to ease.

Artificial graphite already has the raw materials, so if production goes well, it is expected that there will be no major issues, and companies invested in silicon-based cathode materials have begun preparations, and full-scale movements have begun to secure a portfolio that can respond to all, including SiC.

If POSCO's plan for cathode materials is successfully implemented, it will have a capacity of 180,000 tons of natural graphite, 150,000 tons of artificial graphite, and 35,000 tons of silicon by 2030, and sales are expected to be approximately 5 trillion won.

Senior Researcher Park Jae-beom said about the international situation related to China, “Since the situation can change at any time, it will be difficult to conclude that China has been completely excluded from the supply network,” and “I expect that there will certainly be many opportunities arising from the international situation.”