[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] POSCO Chemical announced on the 10th that it has decided to acquire a 15% stake in Chinese artificial graphite anode material company Sinuo. By investing 26.1 billion KRW, the company will participate in the management of the acquired company and secure exclusive sales rights targeting domestic battery manufacturers.
Artificial graphite anode material is stable with minimal expansion due to the high-temperature processing manufacturing process, and its particles are evenly distributed, allowing lithium ions to move quickly. The company explained that this can extend the lifespan of electric vehicle batteries and reduce charging time.
With this investment, POSCO Chemical has expanded its product portfolio to include artificial graphite in addition to natural graphite anode materials. As of last year, the company holds an 11% market share, ranking fourth, and this acquisition is expected to increase its share further. As the electric vehicle market rapidly grows, artificial graphite anode materials have become widely used, and the industry expects their market share to increase from 60% last year to 73% by 2025.
POSCO Chemical is building an anode material plant in Pohang with an annual capacity of 16,000 tons. This investment is expected to create synergy in the domestic and international anode material business. Sinuo has been producing artificial graphite anode materials since 2002 and supplying materials to Chinese battery companies such as Guoxuan and Lishen.
POSCO Chemical acquired a stake in Chinese anode material company Qingdao Zhongse this year and decided to invest in domestic production of pitch, a material used for anode material coating. In January of this year, it acquired a 15% stake in Black Rock Mining, which owns a graphite mine in Tanzania. The anode material raw material, needle coke, is produced directly by its subsidiary PMCTech. The company has established the entire value chain and product portfolio for the anode material business, from raw material mining to intermediate raw materials and material production. The company stated, "We plan to increase anode material production capacity to 44,000 tons this year, 172,000 tons by 2025, and 260,000 tons by 2030."
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