Korea's Posco starts output at new NCA cathode plant

: Battery materials, Metals
24/10/14

South Korean battery materials producer Posco Future M, a subsidiary of conglomerate Posco, has begun producing nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) cathodes at its plant in Pohang ahead of schedule, citing "customer requests".

The 30,000 t/yr NCA cathode plant that sits in North Gyeongsang province's Pohang city was originally planned to start production and sales in 2025.

Posco Future M has another NCA plant under construction in South Jeolla province's Gwangyang city, which will have a production capacity of 52,500 t/yr. The firm in 2023 signed a 10-year deal to supply fellow battery manufacturer Samsung SDI with high-nickel NCA cathodes, which will come from some of the lines at the upcoming Gwangyang plant, it said.

The company expects to reach 248,500 t/yr of cathode material production capacity by 2026, with 106,000 t/yr from Pohang and 142,500 t/yr from Gwangyang, because of the continuing electric vehicle (EV) market slowdown, it said on 14 October. These capacities are markedly lower from a goal of 320,000 t/yr by 2025 that the firm said in July last year.

Posco Future M earlier in September suspended plans to build a nickel sulphate and battery precursors plant with major Chinese lithium-ion battery metal and cathode active material (CAM) manufacturer Huayou Cobalt because of an EV "chasm". The term typically refers to the adoption gap in new technologies between early adopters and mass market consumers, which may be the cause of the slowdown in ex-China EV sales.

The firm in September also disclosed that it is pushing back the timeline to complete a 30,000 t/yr high-nickel CAM plant in Canada's Quebec, which is a joint venture with US automaker General Motors, citing "local conditions". The plant was supposed to be completed in the second half of 2024.

By Joseph Ho

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