포스코퓨처엠이 단계적으로 건설하고 있는 포항 양극재 공장의 조감도 (사진=포스코퓨처엠)

 

[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] POSCO Future M will invest 600 billion won to build an additional plant for producing cathode materials, a key material for secondary batteries, in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

The company held a board meeting on the 24th and decided to build an additional high-nickel NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) cathode material plant with an annual capacity of 46,000 tons in the Pohang 4th General Industrial Complex. To this end, it plans to invest 614.8 billion won by 2025. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of this year and be completed in 2025.

The high-nickel NCMA cathode material can increase the battery capacity and output and extend its lifespan by increasing the proportion of nickel to more than 80%. It is a material whose demand is rapidly increasing according to the trend of electric vehicle performance.

Currently, POSCO Future M is building a cathode material plant with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons in Pohang. The first-phase plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons is expected to be completed this year. The second stage (30,000 tons per year) plant will be completed next year. If the volume of this expansion (46,000 tons) is added, the amount of cathode materials produced at the Pohang plant will reach 106,000 tons per year.

The company's cathode material production capacity is 105,000 tons per year (as of the end of last year). The Gwangyang plant is the largest with an annual capacity of 90,000 tons.

 

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