POSCO will mass-produce lithium carbonate, a core substance for secondary batteries for smartphones, notebook PCs and EVs. POSCO has succeeded in commercializing the material about seven years after it launched a project to develop it on its own.
Korean rechargeable battery makers, which have depended on foreign countries to import lithium carbonates, will likely benefit from its mass-production.
POSCO held a ceremony to dedicate a plant capable of producing 2,500 tons of lithium carbonate annually at the Gwangyang Steelworks on Feb. 7. Currently, lithium carbonate prices fetch $10,000 per ton. POSCO will earn an estimated $25 million (about 28 billion won) in annual revenues from its production.
Among those on hand at the event were POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon; Jeollanam-do Vice Gov. Woo Ki-jong; Gwangyang Mayor Chung Hyun-bok; LG Chem President Lee Wong-beom; Samsung SDI President Cho Nam-sung; POSCO E&C President Han Chan-gun; POSCO Chemtech President Lee Yeong-hoon; POSCO ESM President Park Jong-min; and President Park Sung-ho of the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST).
About 2,500 tons of lithium carbonate can be used to produce 70 million batteries for notebook PCs or 60,000 to 70,000 batteries for EVs. POSCO plans to supply lithium carbonate to POSCO ESM, a specialist in active materials for reusable batteries, and such secondary battery makers as LG Chem and Samsung SDI.
Korea, a global rechargeable battery powerhouse, has so far imported all of its lithium carbonate. The dedication of the lithium carbonate plant will result in a massive reduction in lithium carbonate imports, amounting to about 20,000 tons annually. POSCO plans to expand its lithium carbonate production capacity to about 40,000 tons annually by 2020.
POSCO’s developed a technology to extract lithium phosphate from seawater and discarded secondary batteries and converting it into lithium carbonate. Unlike the conventional evaporation technology, which is required to take between 12 months and 18 months, POSCO’s technology takes as short as eight hours (up to one month) to extract pure lithium. It has raised its lithium recovery rate to more than 80 percent, compared to the existing 30 percent to 40 percent, with a purity of 99.9 percent. POSCO has obtained more than 100 patents on technologies related to the extracting of lithium the company has developed since 2010.
“The technology of extracting lithium carbonate from abandoned reusable batteries is rated to rank very highly globally,” a POSCO official said.
Lithium is a positive active electrode material, a core part for secondary batteries capable of storing high volumes of energy in accordance, which is considered essential to maintain the trend of making smaller and smaller electronic devices.
The global demand for lithium carbonate for reusable batteries is forecast to surge from 66,000 tons in 2015 to more than 180,000 tons in 2025, corresponding with a rise in such markets as EVs and energy storage systems. POSCO is accelerating its efforts to expand its capabilities in secondary battery-related materials businesses as its subsidiaries, POSCO ESM and POSCO Chemteck, produce positive and negative active materials for rechargeable batteries, respectively. POSCO’s construction of the lithium carbonate plant is said to be based on an idea POSCO Chairman Kwon had floated as a future growth engine while serving as the RIST president.
On Jan. 25, Chairman Kwon was reelected for his second term. Under his stewardship, POSCO is expected to make a raid into the non-ferrous field in full throttle and an aggressive manner. Kwon said POSCO will nurture future new businesses with technologies differentiating itself from its rivals, including the development of pure nickel for positive active electrode materials and positive and negative active materials.
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