Status Assessment and Challenges Listening for Anode Material Supply Chain Establishment
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to support the development of the domestic secondary battery anode material supply chain.
Posco Future M announced on the 19th that Kang In-seon, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited the Sejong anode material plant on the 18th and said, "The government will actively support the recovery of the operating rate."
Kang In-seon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (left), visited the POSCO Future M Sejong anode material factory on the 18th and received an explanation from a POSCO Future M official about the manufacturing process of anode materials, a core material for secondary batteries. (Provided by POSCO Future M)
Vice Minister Kang serves as the chairperson of the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), launched in June 2022 to secure and diversify global critical mineral supply chains. MSP currently includes 14 countries such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea, as well as the EU (European Union). South Korea, following the United States, is serving as the chair country for one year and plans to lead cooperation among MSP member countries to ensure that the ongoing MSP pilot projects achieve practical and concrete results.
Vice Minister Kang stated, "Natural graphite and anode materials are items with extremely high external dependence among key critical minerals, making supply chain diversification urgently necessary. The government will actively support companies like Posco Future M, which are facing difficulties due to declining operating rates, to overcome the crisis and turn it into an opportunity through recovery of their operating rates."
Posco Future M, the only domestic producer of graphite-based anode materials, ranks within the global top 10 excluding China based on production volume. Recently, concerns have arisen that even this top 10 ranking is at risk as Chinese companies, engaging in low-price competition, have caused a sharp decline in operating rates.
Therefore, for the localization of domestic anode materials as well as diversification of the global supply chain, the continuous maintenance and development of Posco Future M's anode material business is essential. There is a growing consensus that active support and cooperation from both the government and the international community are necessary.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to lead specific global cooperation measures to foster the anode material industry through future MSP activities.
Meanwhile, Posco Future M signed a contract in March with Australian mining company Syrah Resources to supply up to 60,000 tons annually of graphite mined from Mozambique mines starting in 2025. Additionally, Posco International has signed a joint investment contract for the Mahenge graphite mine in Tanzania, Africa, securing a graphite supply chain of up to 60,000 tons annually.
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