General Discussions, page-175

POSCO is starting to convert into a secondary battery (battery) material company. It establishes a joint venture (JV) with Australian mining company Pilbara Minerals and builds a lithium hydroxide production plant in Yulchon Industrial Complex in Gwangyang. The localization of lithium, which depended on 100% import, became possible. POSCO's idea to build a value chain for secondary battery materials that supplies the world's first cathode and cathode materials and their raw materials, lithium, nickel, and graphite, is becoming a reality.According to industry sources on the 9th, POSCO will establish POSCO Lithium Solutions, a JV, under the condition that Pilbara Minerals, an Australian mining company, invests 100 million dollars (approximately 110 billion won). At present, it is said that it is certain to establish a JV at the stage of last-minute coordination with detailed contract terms. The two companies' JV establishment, which has been around for two years, has finally come to fruition.POSCO Lithium Solutions, which will own 70% of POSCO and 30% of Pilbara, will build a lithium hydroxide production plant by investing 760 billion won in Gwangyang Yulchon Industrial Complex by 2023 according to the investment agreement signed with Jeollanam-do on the 6th. . POSCO Lithium Solutions is hiring 260 new employees. Lithium hydroxide produced annually amounts to 43,000 tons, capable of producing 1 million electric vehicles.So far, the domestic lithium and cobalt self-sufficiency rate was only 0%. There have also been several criticisms that most of the raw materials for batteries depend on imports from China, which poses a threat to resource security. With the signing of a JV between Pilbara and POSCO, which own lithium mines, Korea now stably secures lithium raw materials. It is also expected to have an annual import substitution effect of KRW 370 billion, excluding KRW 210 billion in ore import costs from KRW 580 billion in lithium sales.POSCO is building the world's only secondary battery material value chain that can supply not only cathode materials and cathode materials, but also lithium, nickel and graphite, which are their core raw materials. By 2030, it plans to achieve a production system of 400,000 tons of cathode materials and 260,000 tons of anode materials by self-supplying 220,000 tons of lithium and 100,000 tons of nickel.To this end, POSCO has made various investments such as △investment in lithium salt lakes in Argentina, △investment in eco-friendly nickel smelting business, and △investment in graphite mines. POSCO recently announced plans to start construction of a 25,000 ton/year plant in Argentina using salt lakes with confirmed lithium reserves. It is planning to establish a lithium production system of 220,000 tons per year by 2030 by investing in the lithium ore and brine extraction business in the mid- and long-term. Since 2010, POSCO has developed a technology to extract lithium from salt water and ore, respectively, with the Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST).POSCO plans to secure graphite mines in Africa and Australia to promote the production of high-purity nickel, an essential raw material for high-capacity battery cathode materials, and to diversify the supply and demand of graphite, a material for anode materials that depend entirely on China. Through this, the company plans to reduce its dependence on Chinese raw materials to less than 50% in the medium and long term.POSCO is also on the verge of establishing a joint venture worth 120 billion won with a Chinese company that has technology for extracting valuable metals such as cobalt, lithium, and manganese.출처 : https://www.sedaily.com/NewsVIew/22MALMWK3B