Prime Minister Duck-soo Han said, “This marks a pivotal turning point for POSCO Group as it strides toward becoming a global leader in the lithium industry. The government will not spare any efforts in providing full support to the sector”

Chairman In-hwa Chang said, “POSCO Group will ensure resource sovereignty not only in steel but also in rechargeable battery materials. By securing a diverse range of lithium resources, we are paving the way to become a global top-tier lithium company through a stable domestic supply”

By building a domestic supply chain for lithium hydroxide, a key material for rechargeable batteries, POSCO has made it possible to reduce delivery times and logistics costs. POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution will provide up to 30,000 tons per year to POSCO Future M and has signed a three-year agreement with SK On for up to 15,000 tons

POSCO Group has completed a production system capable of producing 43,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for rechargeable batteries, localizing a key mineral essential for the rechargeable battery industry and establishing a stable supply chain.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, a subsidiary of POSCO Group, completed the construction of its second lithium hydroxide plant, based on ore, on November 29 at the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Jeollanam-do. This milestone, achieved just one year after the completion of the first plant in November last year, establishes a total lithium production system with an annual capacity of 43,000 tons. This output represents a scale sufficient to support the production of approximately 1 million electric vehicles.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, established in 2021 as a joint venture between POSCO Holdings and Australian mining company Pilbara Minerals, imports raw lithium ore from Australia to produce lithium hydroxide for rechargeable battery materials in Korea.

▲ POSCO Group completed construction of POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution’s second lithium hydroxide plant in the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Jeollanam-do on November 29. From the left, Korea Development Bank Chairman Seog-hoon Kang, Pilbara Minerals outside director Steve Scudamore, Australian Ambassador to Korea Jeff Robinson, POSCO Group Chairman In-hwa Chang, Prime Minister Duck-soo Han, South Jeolla Province Governor Young-rok Kim , National Assemblyman Hyang-yup Kwon, and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Industrial Policy Director Seung-Yeol Lee.

The completion ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Duck-soo Han, South Jeolla Province Governor Young-rok Kim, Lawmaker Hyang-yup Kwon, Director General for Industrial Policy Seung-Yeol Lee from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Chairman of the Korea Development Bank Seog-hoon Kang, Gwangyang Mayor In-hwa Jeong, global battery company representatives, POSCO Group Chairman In-hwa Chang, POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution CEO Kyung-seop Lee, Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Jeff Robinson, and Pilbara Minerals Independent Director Steve Scudamore.

Prime Minister Duck-soo Han remarked, “The completion of this lithium plant will be a groundbreaking turning point for POSCO Group in its journey to becoming a global leader in the lithium industry. The government will spare no effort in supporting rechargeable battery companies through comprehensive measures, including infrastructure, R&D, taxation, financing, and more.”

Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Jeff Robinson said, “The comprehensive completion of POSCO Group’s lithium plant is a testament to the trust and collaboration built between Korea and Australia over many years. It is a significant milestone for both nations in the joint development of the rechargeable battery material industry.”

Chairman In-hwa Chang stated, “Amid changes in the global regulatory environment, POSCO Group has ensured a stable domestic supply of lithium, a key mineral for rechargeable battery materials, thereby opening the path to material sovereignty. Building on its leadership in steel, the group has also contributed to national prosperity in the rechargeable battery materials sector and will grow into a leading global lithium company in the future.”

In 2018, POSCO Holdings proactively acquired a 4.75% stake in Pilbara Minerals and signed a 20-year contract for the stable supply of lithium ore mined from Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora mine. This measure secures a reliable raw material supply chain. Additionally, the two companies strengthened their long-term partnership by investing in POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, with POSCO Holdings holding an 82% stake and Pilbara Minerals owning 18%.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution applied two distinct lithium extraction technologies to its plants: the first plant, completed in November last year, uses a proprietary lithium extraction technology developed by POSCO Group, while the second plant uses a commercially proven technology operated by other global companies. POSCO Group’s proprietary lithium extraction method, based on the principle of electrodialysis, offers advantages such as the recovery and reuse of byproducts during production and minimal byproduct generation. In contrast, the commercial extraction technology is universally used by leading lithium producers in Australia, China, and other countries, providing proven reliability. By operating both plants, POSCO Group aims to strengthen its technical foundation to flexibly expand its business in response to future changes in the business environment.

Moreover, the lithium hydroxide produced by POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution is processed entirely within free trade agreement (FTA) member countries, as it uses Australian raw materials and is refined in Korea, making it free from geopolitical risks. Unaffected by changes in the regulatory environment for raw materials used in rechargeable batteries in countries such as the U.S. and the EU, it is easy to explore both domestic and international markets, leading to the successful securing of supply contracts from the early stages of operation.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution plans to supply 20,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually to POSCO Future M, the Group’s cathode material producer, starting from this amount and increasing it to a maximum of 30,000 tons in the future. On November 22, POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution signed its first long-term contract with SK On to supply up to 15,000 tons over three years. In the future, POSCO Group aims to leverage business advantages such as shorter delivery times and reduced logistics costs from domestic lithium hydroxide production to expand its customer base both domestically and internationally.

By combining the 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide from the first phase of its brine lithium plant in Argentina, completed earlier this year, with the 43,000 tons from its newly completed ore-based lithium plants, POSCO Group has established an annual production capacity of 68,000 tons, further strengthening its raw material capabilities for the rechargeable battery industry. Additionally, the Group is accelerating efforts to lead in next-generation materials and other innovative technologies.

POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi said, “We have established a full value chain for rechargeable battery core materials and gained a foothold to enter the global market…We will improve Korea’s competitiveness by stabilizing domestic supply chains.”

On November 29, POSCO Group completed the construction of the lithium hydroxide plant for POSCO-Pilbara Lithium Solution in the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Jollanam-do and the high-efficiency, Hyper NO (non-oriented electrical steel sheet) plant in POSCO Gwangyang Works.

With the opening of its lithium hydroxide plant, POSCO Group will become the first company to commercially produce the primary raw materials for rechargeable batteries in Korea, which are a vital driver for POSCO’s new growth. In addition, POSCO has established a foothold to lead the global material market for green vehicles by building an additional Hyper NO plant with the world’s best technology.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, founded in 2021, is a joint venture between POSCO Holdings and Pilbara Minerals, an Australian miner. The company aims to establish a manufacturing system by 2024 capable of producing 43,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually for rechargeable batteries, utilizing Australian ore lithium. The first plant has an annual production capacity of 21,500 tons, and the second plant with the same capacity will be operational in 2024. The annual volume of lithium hydroxide, 43,000 tons, is sufficient to manufacture 1 million electric vehicles.

On the same day,, POSCO Group completed the construction of its first Hyper NO plant, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons, to meet the increased demand for steel used for global green vehicles and premium home appliances. POSCO Group plans to complete the construction of its second plant with the same annual production capacity as the first plant by 2024 to establish a Hyper NO production system with a total annual production capacity of 400,000 tons (300,000 tons in Gwangyang and 100,000 tons in Pohang). With this capacity, the system can manufacture drive motor cores for 5 million electric vehicles.

POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choisaid at the plant’s completion ceremony, “POSCO Group is now able to produce the core raw material lithium for rechargeable batteries in Korea and scale up the supply of high-efficiency electrical steel sheets. This will make POSCO a frontrunner in the global green vehicle market, enhance Korea’s competitiveness, and position POSCO as one of the representative companies producing eco-friendly future materials.”

POSCO Group has developed its own technology to extract lithium from ores, resulting in successful domestic production of lithium hydroxide previously sourced exclusively from overseas. This contributes to stabilizing the supply chain of raw materials for rechargeable batteries in Korea. Furthermore, benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can be expected since the entire manufacturing process, from procuring raw materials from Australia to processing them in Korea, occurs in the USA and countries that have signed FTAs.

Additionally, the expansion of the Hyper NO plant will assist POSCO in alleviating Korean customers’ concerns about potential supply shortages of raw materials for green vehicles. This will contribute to enhancing Korea’s industrial competitiveness. In the future, POSCO Group will explore the construction of a new plant in North America to increase production of electrical steel sheets. The aim is to achieve an annual production capacity of 1 million tons by 2030 in response to the fully established global electric vehicle market.

POSCO Group has bolstered its steel and rechargeable battery material businesses with the launch of its holding company in March of last year to complete a core material portfolio for the eco-friendly mobility industry.

Improving cathode material performance, increasing motor efficiency and reducing vehicle weight are crucial to enhancing the mileage of green vehicles. POSCO Group is the only company in the world that produces all the lithium hydroxide for high-nickel cathode materials, which is a high-capacity rechargeable material, Hyper No to significantly increase motor efficiency by reducing energy loss, and ultra-high-strength, lightweight Giga steel.

In the future, POSCO Group will increase POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution’s ore lithium production capacity to 220,000 tons with the completion of the lithium hydroxide plant. In addition, it plans to build a 100,000-ton production system for brine lithium in a total of four stages by completing the first and second plants utilizing Argentina’s brine resources, starting from next year. Also, the company will continue to increase its global lithium production capacity by exploiting unconventional lithium resources in North America, such as clay lithium and oil-field brine lithium, to produce 423,000 tons of lithium annually by 2030.

Meanwhile, POSCO Group plans to establish a full value chain for rechargeable batteries with an annual production capacity of 240,000 tons of nickel, 70,000 tons of recycling, 1 million tons of cathode material, 370,000 tons of anode material and 9,400 tons of next-generation materials in addition to lithium such as ore and brine.

▲POSCO Group completed the lithium hydroxide plant for POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution in the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Jollanam-do on November 29. From left to right: POSCO Future M CEO Jun-hyung Kim, POSCO Holdings New Experience of Technology Hub Director Ji-yong Kim, Pilbara Minerals CEO Dale Henderson, Pilbara Minerals Board of Directors Chairman Anthony Kiernan, POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi, National Assembly Member Dong-yong Seo, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Industrial Policy Director Seung-yeol Lee, and Jeollanam-do Deputy Governor of Political Affairs Chang-hwan Park.

▲POSCO completed construction of a high-efficiency, eco-friendly electrical steel sheet plant at Gwangyang Works on November 29.

▲Attendees at the completion ceremony of the Gwangyang high-efficiency, eco-friendly electrical steel sheet plant take a commemorative photo after signing the first produced electrical steel sheet. From left to right: Gwangyang Mayor In-hwa Jeong, POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi, National Assembly Member Dong-yong Seo, and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Industrial Policy Director Seung-yeol Lee.

▲View of the electrical steel sheet plant at Gawangyang Works.