POSCO Future M Expands Annual Production of High-Nickel NCA Cathode Material to 52,500 Tons

Gwangyang Yulchon 1st Industrial Complex
Construction Starts in First Half of 2024
Completion in Second Half of 2025

POSCO Future M will expand its high-nickel NCA cathode material production capacity by more than 50,000 tons.

On the 24th, POSCO Future M held a board meeting and approved a plan to invest 683.4 billion KRW by 2025 to build a high-nickel NCA cathode material plant with an annual capacity of 52,500 tons in the Yulchon 1st Industrial Complex in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do. Construction will begin in the first half of next year and be completed in the second half of 2025.

This NCA-dedicated plant investment is the second following the 30,000-ton plant that began construction in Pohang in April. NCA cathode materials are manufactured using lithium, nickel, cobalt, and aluminum as raw materials. Due to their high battery density and output, they are materials that can maximize efficiency, and global demand is increasing.

A POSCO Future M official explained the investment, saying, "Since entering the cathode material business in 2012, POSCO Future M has led the NCM and NCMA markets through continuous investment and research and development. By expanding investment in NCA cathode materials as well, we aim to respond to the needs of the global cathode material market."

POSCO Group Secondary Battery Material Complex Panorama

By the second half of 2025, when this plant is completed, NCA cathode material production capacity will increase to 80,000 tons. Adding the confirmed NCM and NCMA production capacity of 240,000 tons by 2025, the total cathode material production capacity will increase to 320,000 tons.

The POSCO Group has established a secondary battery materials business complex. In the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do, there is already the world's largest single-plant high-nickel cathode material plant with an annual capacity of 90,000 tons, as well as POSCO HY Clean Metal, which operates a recycling business. POSCO Philbar Lithium Solutions, which produces lithium hydroxide, is also scheduled for completion this year. Accordingly, when the NCA cathode material plant is established in Gwangyang in the future, it is expected to create various business synergies.

Energy market research firm SNE Research forecasts that global electric vehicle production will reach 48.3 million units by 2030. POSCO Future M plans to proactively respond to this global electric vehicle market growth trend by expanding cathode material production capacity to 1 million tons by 2030.