Posco Chemical begins 4th expansion of Gwangyang cathode plant

Posco Chemical on Tuesday said it has commenced the fourth expansion of its cathode plant at Gwangyang.

The company will spend 275.8 billion won to add 30,000 metric tonnes in annual production capacity.

Construction will be completed in 2023 and the plant will manufacture high-nickel NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminum) cathode for batteries of Gen 3 electric vehicles that can travel over 500km with a single charge.

Poso Chemical will secure an annual cathode production capacity of 100,000 metric tonne once the construction is complete. That is enough to power 1.1 million 60kWh electric cars.

The company completed its cathode factory at Gumi which has an annual production capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes in 2018. The following year, it completed the first stages of construction of its Gwangyang plant that added 5,000 metric tonnes in production capacity of high-nickel cathodes. 

In 2020, it completed its second expansion of the Gwangyang plant that added 25,000 metric tonnes in annual production capacity. It is in the middle of the third expansion of the plant that will add another 30,000 metric tonnes in annual production capacity by November 2022.

Posco Chemical is also planning to build factories abroad in countries such as Europe and China.

It is aiming to secure 400,000 metric tonnes annual production capacity for cathodes by 2030 and 260,000 metric tonnes for anodes. It is aiming for a global market share of 20% and annual sales of 23 trillion won from the materials.