[Posco Camtech]
SEOUL -- Posco Chemtech, a unit of South Korea's Posco steel group, completed its work on upgrading a plant capable of producing 24,000 tons of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries a year and broke ground for a second plant with a capacity of 50,000 tons.
Chemtech said the second plant would secure 20,000 tons of production capacity in the second half of next year and expand its capacity to 50,000 tons by 2021. The ground-breaking ceremony was held Thursday in an industrial complex in the central city of Sejong.
Posco has invested heavily in lithium-ion battery materials. In 2012, Posco ESM was established to produce cathode materials and supply them to battery makers. The steel group is building two joint ventures with China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to produce precursors and cathodes.
In February, Posco agreed to purchase battery-grade lithium from Pilbara Minerals, an Australian mine developer. The two companies will jointly build a plant to produce 30,000 tons of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate annually from 2020.
In August, Poscosigned a $280 million deal with Australia's public mining company, Galaxy Resources, to acquire its mining rights to produce lithium materials in tArgentina's Hombre Muerto saline lake.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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