POSCO’s headquarters in Pohang, some 370 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s steelmaking giant POSCO Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it will sharply expand its production of key rechargeable battery materials over the next seven years to generate more than 60 trillion won (US$46.4 billion) in sales from the sector.
POSCO Holdings said it is aiming to generate 62 trillion won in sales from the secondary battery materials division by 2030.
The target is 51 percent higher than the company’s estimate last year of its sales for 2030 from the promising business area.
Among other things, POSCO Holdings said it will have an annual cathode materials production capacity of 1 million tons by 2030 to register 36.2 trillion won in sales.
The group will also boost its lithium production capacity to 423,000 tons per annum by 2030 to post 13.6 trillion won in sales, with its capacity of anode materials set to rise to 370,000 tons with sales of 5.2 trillion won.
POSCO Holdings said it will also expand its production capacity of other materials, such as high-purity nickel, cobalt and other next-generation materials.
To achieve the top-line target, POSCO Holdings said the group will funnel 46 percent of its total capital spending over the next three years into the secondary battery materials sector.
A company executive said POSCO Holdings will focus its investment on the rechargeable battery materials business to preempt the global market, expecting it will be able to turn a profit from the sector after 2026.
POSCO has been ramping up efforts to diversify its business portfolio from steelmaking to resource supply, especially resources used for batteries, in a bid to find future sources of revenue.
POSCO Holdings said Sunday it has built a secondary battery recycling plant on South Korea’s southwest coast as part of its push to expand its battery materials business.
(Yonhap)
