I found the following information from the POSCO Earnings Call...

I found the following information from the POSCO Earnings Call Transcript (in the Q&A section), from 2 February 2024. The quote that pertains to the POSCO JV is below, along with a link to the earnings call transcript.

As per POSCO, they anticipate the Plant to be running at 80% of capacity by the end of the year. That means revenue, which we get 18% of (you will see that one of the comments is that operating profit is in double digits, so at least 10%).

Another thing to consider regarding the JV reaching 80% of name plate by the end of the year is that we can assume that the option to increase our share of the JV from 18% to 30% is going to come in early CY 2025. The deal is that as soon as the JV hits 90% of name plate, our option to increase our stake commences.

It also behooves us to make that decision quickly, once we hit 90% of name plate, because the price to acquire the additional 12% will go up quickly. As soon as we hit 90% of name plate, we can acquire that 12% “for cost,” but as soon as an OEM accepts the JV’s product as “technical grade automotive LiOH,” the cost goes up to “market value.” Unless the market goes so far South that market value goes down below cost of construction, we will want to acquire ASAP, once we reach 90% of name plate production.

The link to the POSCO earnings call transcript and the quote I referred to follow (there’s plenty more to see, but very little of it has to do with Lithium):

https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/posco-holdings-inc-nysepkx-q4-2024-earnings-call-transcript-1253314/2/

This is the partial response to a multi-part question thatalso involved steel (“PPLS” IS POSCO Pilbara Lithium Services):

“My name is Lee, Kyung-Sub, in charge ofbattery materials business. I will address the second question. So lithiumproduction, projections as well as the lithium market projections. So I knowthat you’re all very curious. So I will take this as a general question and tryto address as much of it as possible. PPLS completed construction at the end oflast year. And so raw materials are being fed in and we are ramping upproduction. So we consider the first year, the period of ramp-up, and we aregoing in phases. By the end of the year, we will see about 80% to 89% operationrate. So by the end of the year, our target is to operate the plant at 80%. Sopurchasing agreements are in place with Pilbara as well as Fastmarkets based onthe benchmarked price formula.

And we’re also almost reaching the end of our sales negotiationsas well. So including Argentina, our long-term purchasing agreements are almostat conclusion point. On profit and loss, because lithium prices have fallen, Iknow that you’re all very concerned. This morning, Fastmarkets said $17,530spodumene was $850. So PPLS stage 1, which completed last year by the fourthquarter of this year, we hope it will turn to black. By next year, we willbegin to definitely hit black ink. Yes, lithium prices have fallen. But even atthis rate, we are still seeing operating profit at 2 digits. And because we arelinked to the benchmark price and formula, when lithium prices fall, then otherprices also tend to fall. And as a result, we are able to maintain our operatingmargin relatively.

Spodumene was $850 this morning. This is Australian spodumene andthey’ve hit the highest point. It’s — I believe the production cost is $800 to$900. So for small-scale miners, for example, in Western Australia, becausespodumene prices have been falling, some of them have had to close business.And there are other parts of Australia, where we’re seeing small-scale minersclosing business as well. Liontown is another region, Albemarle. AustraliaPhase 4 lithium hydroxide plant is being delayed on their side as well. Solithium price, based on the current spodumene price, I think, have hit almostthe rock bottom. Lithium production cost is compared to even Chinese companies,POSCO does not pale in comparison. So if lithium price falls, spodumene pricefalls as well, and that’s what gives us the leeway to generate margin.”