POSCO is investing 100 billion won to build industrial gas production and storage facilities and is set to begin supplying oxygen and nitrogen for secondary batteries in earnest. Based on this, we plan to expand into the specialty gas business for semiconductors in the future.


On the 5th, POSCO broke ground on an industrial gas production facility with an annual capacity of 250,000 tons at the secondary battery specialized complex within the Yeongilman General Industrial Complex in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

POSCO will invest over 100 billion won to build a new oxygen plant on a 5,000-pyeong site and install an Air Separation Unit (ASU) that separates and purifies oxygen and nitrogen from the air, as well as a large storage tank capable of storing 2,000 tons of liquid oxygen.

We plan to first install large storage tanks in the second half of 2024 and complete the ASU facility by the second half of 2025 to supply high-purity oxygen and nitrogen to be used in the production process of cathode materials and precursors, which are key materials for secondary batteries, as well as in the nickel refining process.

POSCO plans to supply industrial gases more stably and economically through long-term supply contracts with companies such as POSCO Future M, which operates a cathode material plant in the Pohang Secondary Battery Specialized Complex, and with the newly established ASU and large storage tanks, it is expected that up to 100,000 tons of cathode material, 50,000 tons of pure nickel, and 110,000 tons of precursors will be supplied annually.

In particular, the completion of this oxygen plant is expected to contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of domestic industries by enabling POSCO to fully expand its supply in the domestic industrial gas market, which is currently dominated by foreign and private equity-owned companies holding more than 90% of the market share.

POSCO, which currently operates a total of 22 oxygen plants—the largest in the country—at its Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks, produces approximately 17 million tons of industrial gas annually; 16 million tons are used in the steel production process, and the remainder is sold externally.

Gaseous oxygen and nitrogen are sold to POSCO Future M's Pohang Cheongnim Plant and SNNC near Donghoan, Gwangyang, which are connected to the steelworks via pipelines, and some of the gas is liquefied and transported via tank trucks to small and medium-sized filling stations and It is being sold as a gas sales company.

Oxygen and nitrogen are essential utilities for production processes in various industries, including not only steel but also semiconductors, shipbuilding, chemicals, and automobiles. The domestic gaseous market is worth approximately 2.2 trillion won annually, while the liquid gas market is worth 500 billion won annually. In particular, the semiconductor and secondary battery materials sectors account for about 80% of the demand in the gaseous market and are expected to grow continuously.

POSCO plans to continuously seek to expand its ASU facilities near future demand centers and expand its business by commercializing rare gases essential to the semiconductor industry, such as neon (Ne), krypton (Kr), and xenon (Xe), as well as specialty gases utilizing steel mill byproducts, alongside general industrial gases like oxygen and nitrogen.

Meanwhile, POSCO launched a new business utilizing industrial gases produced at its steelworks oxygen plants starting in 2021, and in January 2023, it established an Industrial Gas Business Division to expand its industrial gas business and transition to a specialized operating system, thereby making full-scale entry into the industrial gas market.