POSCO breaks ground on nickel, precursor plants

POSCO Center located in Seouls southern district of Gangnam Courtesy of POSCO Holdings — This undated photo shows a POSCO building in southern Seoul. Courtesy of POSCO Holdings

SEOUL, May 31 (AJU PRESS) - POSCO began the construction of two electric vehicle materials plants -- one for nickel and the other for precursor -- on Friday through joint ventures with the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) materials producer CNGR, the Korean steelmaker said.

POSCO CNGR Nickel Solution and C&P New Material Technology broke ground for their plants at an industrial complex in the southeastern city of Pohang.

POSCO CNGR Nickel Solution, a nickel refining firm, is a 6:4 joint venture between POSCO Holdings and CNGR. C&P New Material Technology was formed by POSCO Future M, a carbon-based material manufacturer, and CNGR, with a 2:8 ownership ratio.

About 1.5 trillion won ($1.08 billion) will be invested in the two factories, set to commence mass production in 2026, POSCO said.

The nickel refining plant is expected to generate 50,000 tons of nickel annually, with a purity of 99.9 percent, sufficient to produce approximately 1.2 million EVs.

C&P New Material Technology will produce precursor materials using the high-purity nickel from the company, with an annual production capacity of 110,000 tons.

Precursors and nickel are raw materials used in the production of cathodes, which play a crucial role in determining the capacity and voltage of batteries.

Kim Joo-heon jhkim123@ajunews.com

POSCO breaks ground on nickel, precursor plants

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