Samples of lithium, cylindrical batteries, nickel, cathodes and cobalt (from L to R) are shown in this photo provided by POSCO Future M Co. on Jan. 26, 2023.
SEOUL, July 24 (Korea Bizwire) — POSCO Future M Co. said Monday its second-quarter operating profit fell 5.6 percent from a year earlier, while unveiling a plan to spend over 680 billion won (US$529 million) to expand its manufacturing facility for a key electric vehicle (EV) battery material.
Operating income reached 52.1 billion won in the April-June period, compared with 55.2 billion won logged in the previous year, the chemical unit under South Korea’s POSCO Holdings Inc. said in a regulatory filing.
Sales increased 48.5 percent on-year to 1.19 trillion won. Net income came to 43.1 billion won, down 7.1 percent from a year earlier.
POSCO Future M announced in a separate filing that it will invest 683.4 billion won to build a facility to produce high-nickel cathodes, one of the four components for EV batteries, along with anodes, separators and electrolytes.
Cathodes determine the power and range of EV battery cells. They account for more than 40 percent of a cell’s production cost.
The facility will be built in its main cathode complex in Gwangyang, about 300 kilometers southwest of Seoul, with an annual capacity to produce 52,000 tons of cathodes consisting of lithium, nickel, cobalt and aluminum (NCA).
POSCO Future M is accelerating the push for battery materials sector in a pivot to green energy.
It supplies cathodes to Samsung SDI Co., LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES) and Ultium Cells LLC., the U.S. joint venture between LGES and General Motors Co.
POSCO Future M currently has an order backlog of 106 trillion won.
In the second quarter, the battery materials segment booked 37.5 billion won in operating profit on sales of 842.5 billion won, with the sales of cathodes accounting for the most of the sectoral revenue.
Sales in anodes reached 56.2 billion won.
Basic chemical materials, such as refractories and burned lime, posted an operating profit of 14.6 billion won, with sales coming in at 350.5 billion won.
Shares in POSCO Future M soared 10.5 percent to 542,000 won on the main Seoul bourse Monday, versus the broader KOSPI’s 0.72 percent gain. The earnings results were released after the market opened.
(Yonhap)
