POSCO Chemical CEO Min Kyung-zoon (R) speaks via video links to Doug Parks, executive vice president of GM’s global product development, purchasing and supply chain, in this photo provided by POSCO Chemical on May 27, 2022.
SEOUL, May 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean chemical maker POSCO Chemical Co. said Friday it is building a US$327 million cathode plant with General Motors Co. in the Canadian city of Quebec to supply the key electric vehicle battery component to the U.S. automaker.
The two have signed a final agreement on setting up their joint venture, Ultium CAM, and building a cathode production facility in Becancour in southern Quebec by 2024, POSCO Chemical said in a release.
The Quebec plant will produce about 30,000 tons of high-nickel cathodes annually, enough to produce 220,000 EVs, and aim to gradually expand its production. The construction will start in August.
A cathode is one source of lithium in a lithium-ion battery and is also a key component of EV batteries. It accounts for about 40 percent of a battery’s production cost.
The joint venture also comes with a cathode supply contract for POSCO Chemical over eight years starting 2025, valued at least 8 trillion won (US$6.73 billion), it said.
POSCO Chemical, a unit of POSCO Group whose flagship is steel titan POSCO, and GM announced in December a plan to set up a joint venture in North America.
POSCO Chemical’s JV with GM is part of POSCO Group’s push to boost its EV business in recent years as part of a diversification strategy.
POSCO Chemical has already been supplying cathode materials to Ultium Cells, GM’s joint venture with South Korea’s top battery producer LG Energy Solution Ltd.
POSCO Chemical said it plans to further expand its overseas foothold into other markets, like Europe and Indonesia.
It also aims to increase its cathodes production capacity to 610,000 tons a year by 2030, up from the current 105,000 tons.
(Yonhap)
