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POSCO Chemical acquires a stake in a Chinese manufacturer of artificial graphite anode materials
2021.11.10
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(Photo) POSCO Chemical's anode material Sejong Plant
- Can promptly respond to increasing demand for anode materials with the growth of the EV market by securing exclusive sales rights to sell to the battery manufacturers in Korea
- Establishes a value chain for anode materials business from raw materials to materials production and strengthens competitiveness
POSCO Chemical strengthens its business competitiveness in rechargeable battery materials by investing in artificial graphite anode materials.
POSCO Chemical held a board meeting on November 10 and decided to acquire a 15% stake in SINUO, a Chinese manufacturer of artificial graphite anode materials. POSCO Chemical invests KRW 26.1 billion to participate in the management of SINUO, which has an annual production capacity of 20 thousand tons, and obtain exclusive rights to sell to the battery manufacturers in Korea.
With this investment, POSCO Chemical has diversified its product portfolio to include artificial graphite as well as natural graphite anode materials, laying the foundation for strengthening its business competitiveness in anode materials. The company will increase its market share in anode materials where it had ranked fourth with 11% in 2020.
Artificial graphite anode materials have a low volumetric expansion, as they are processed at a high temperature. The high stability and even distribution of particles help the lithium ions to move quickly, thereby making EV batteries more durable and able to be charged faster.
Market research agency SNE Research forecasts that the use of artificial graphite anode materials will increase from 60% in 2020 to 73% in 2025 as the EV market is growing rapidly.
POSCO Chemical has been strategically planning to enter the artificial graphite sector to meet the increasing demand. Currently building a plant with an annual production capacity of 16 thousand tons in Pohang, Korea, POSCO Chemical will create a synergy and strengthen the company’s competitiveness in both domestic and international anode materials business with this investment in China.
SINUO began manufacturing artificial graphite anode materials in 2002 and is supplying materials to major battery companies in China, such as Guoxuan and Lishen, securing various clients on the basis of its excellent technological skills in the artificial graphite anode materials business.
POSCO Chemical, Korea’s only manufacturer of both cathode and anode materials, is making multilateral investment efforts to secure business competitiveness by developing anode materials technology, increasing mass production capacity, and securing competency in raw materials.
This year, POSCO Chemical acquired a stake in Qingdao Zhongshuo New Energy Technology Co, a Chinese manufacturer of spherical graphite anode materials and decided to invest in the domestic production of pitch, a coating material for anode materials. This January, POSCO acquired a 15% stake in Black Rock Mining that has a graphite mine in Tanzania.
Moreover, needle cokes, which are raw materials for artificial graphite anode materials, are directly produced by the subsidiary PMC Tech founded in 2012, completing vertical integration from the securement of raw materials to manufacturing.
With this investment, POSCO Chemical has completed the entire value chain and product portfolio for anode materials business from raw materials and intermediate materials to the production of anode materials, based on which it plans to expand its anode material production capacity to 44 thousand tons this year, 172 thousand tons in 2025, and 260 thousand tons in 2030.
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