Chairman Choi Jeong-woo of POSCO. (Photo: POSCO)

Chairman Choi Jeong-woo is scheduled to unveil POSCO’s plan to support new growth engines, including 2nd generation battery production when he attends a ceremony to kick off the construction of an anode materials plant at POSCO Chemtech in Sejong City, South Chungcheong Province, on Nov. 8.

He will unveil POSCO’s plan to develop its new growth engines at the educational institute where he was the CEO before named to head the steel maker as the top executive early this year. He has been engrossed in drawing up the plan to find new growth engines for the steel maker and will announce the results at POSCO Chemtech, where he spent about five months running the educational institution as president.

He was the Chief Financial Officer before he was named to head the POSCO affiliate early last year. Ahead of its 50th anniversary this year, POSCO is seeking to make a second leap forward by securing new growth engines and keeping its global reputation as the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, the company said recently.

In July 2017, POSCO started producing lithium for commercial use for the first time in South Korea. The company has completed construction of a lithium extraction plant capable of producing 2,500 tons of lithium in Gwangyang.

The company plans to supply lithium carbonate to battery makers LG Chem and Samsung SDI, and to its affiliate POSCO ESM, a local maker of anodes for rechargeable batteries. Korean battery makers have been relying on imported lithium so far. PSCO supplying the material directly to battery makers will stabilize the supply chain, the company said, adding that it spent seven years developing the eco-friendly lithium extraction technology.

The lithium extraction development has been led by the then POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon, an in-house researcher turned CEO. Assuming his second term last month, Kwon said he would seek POSCO’s growth from non-steel segments such as the development of advanced materials, construction and energy projects.

Chairman Choi attended the ceremony for the dedication of the Nos. 8 and 9 facilities of the plant at POSCO Chemtech, and at the same time, the ceremony for the project to expand the No. 2 Plant to boost the production of anode materials.

The No.1 Plant’s 24,000 annual ton production capacity for the materials appear to not be enough to meet rising demand. The No. 2 Plant, when completed next year, will have a capacity of 20,000 tons of anode materials to be added to those from the No.1 Plant.

The new plant is being built on 66,087 square meters of land bought at the price of 143.3 billion won. The total production capacity for anode materials will continue to rise until annual capacity reaches 64,000 tons, with anode materials being the key material for the lithium batteries.

POSCO has allocated 10 trillion won for the investment in the anode materials production out of the 23 trillion won allocated for total investments by 2023.

The funds will go to the development of technologies to extract lithium effectively and boost the production capacity of anode materials in Korea. POSCO ESM, the specialist for active materials of secondary battery, is the joint venture between POSCO - the Global steel maker and Phoenix Materials of Bokwang Co. - having top class technologies in this field.

Stable sourcing of raw materials with the extraction technology of Lithium and the smelting technology of Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt, etc what POSCO secured and the advanced manufacturing technology for active material what Phoenix Materials having is making excellent synergies to produce W/W top class active materials for secondary battery.

POSCO Chemtech, since establishment in 1963, is the leader in refractory manufacturing, maintenance, and building, along with lime and environment reformation product manufacturing and sales.

The company supplies refractories to various industries such as major steel companies including POSCO, the cement and glass industries, and is growing as a global company by expanding into markets of Japan, China, Indonesia, Mexico, and other overseas regions.

POSCO Chemtech, with its growth as a Global Top Company in the refractory business, is now advancing forward as a chemical and green business specialized company within the POSCO family.