POSCO Chemical, Record-Breaking Performance... Cathode Materials Drive Sales (Comprehensive)

Emerging as a Key Business in Cathode Materials... Sales Share Soars to 35%
Cathode and Anode Materials Sales Share 44%... Material Business Expected to Exceed Half Within the Year
2025 Cathode Materials Annual Production Capacity to Reach 160,000 Tons
Overseas Cathode Materials Plant Investment Confirmed by Year-End

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO Chemical's growth is remarkable. After posting its best-ever performance in the first quarter, POSCO Chemical has broken records again. Cathode materials, a secondary battery (electric vehicle battery) component, accounted for 35% of total sales and drove the performance. By the end of the year, the company plans to decide on its first overseas cathode material plant investment. If this trend continues, the sales proportion of cathode and anode materials will exceed half within the year, transforming the company into a bona fide materials enterprise.

POSCO Chemical announced on the 22nd that its consolidated operating profit for the second quarter of this year increased by 773.9% year-on-year to 35.6 billion KRW. Sales during the same period rose 41.1% to 480 billion KRW. This represents a 4.4% increase in operating profit and a 2.7% increase in sales compared to the previous quarter, which recorded the highest performance.

The main contributor to the record-breaking performance is cathode materials. The sales proportion of cathode materials has been doubling every year (based on second-quarter sales). It jumped from 8% (31.2 billion KRW) in 2019 to 16% (53.8 billion KRW) in 2020, and then to 35% (167.7 billion KRW) in 2021. This increase is due to the rising shipment volume of high-nickel products for electric vehicle batteries and the reflection of cost increases in selling prices. POSCO Chemical plans to complete an annual production system of 160,000 tons domestically by 2025, including the Pohang plant with a capacity of 60,000 tons starting construction next year, and to expand cathode material production capacity to 270,000 tons annually by establishing new plants overseas in the U.S., Europe, and China with a capacity of 110,000 tons.

Anode material sales were recorded at 42.8 billion KRW. Anode materials are diversifying their product portfolio with artificial graphite and silicon anode materials, and the company plans to increase annual production capacity to 170,000 tons by 2025.

A POSCO Chemical official stated, "Sales of cathode and anode materials amounted to 210.5 billion KRW, accounting for 44% of total sales," adding, "We will conduct marketing activities targeting major automakers and battery companies together with the POSCO Group to diversify our customer base."