POSCO FUTURE M

- On the 29th, Vice-Minister Im Sang-jun inspects the secondary battery industry policy issues at the POSCO Future M factory

- Kim Jun-hyung, President of POSCO Future M, requests support for environmental infrastructure, including new additions to public wastewater treatment and industrial water facilities

- Vice-Minister Im: “Actively exploring support measures to foster the secondary battery industry as a green strategic industry.”

On the 29th, Im Sang-jun, the Vice-Minister of Environment, visited the artificial graphite anode factory of POSCO Future M in Pohang.

Vice-Minister Im Sang-jun visited the POSCO Future M factory to explore support measures for fostering the secondary battery industry as a green strategic industry and to listen to on-site challenges. He held a meeting with Kim Jun-hyung, President of POSCO Future M, and other key executives.

At the meeting, POSCO Future M explained the current status and investment plans of the cathode and anode materials business. They requested active roles and support from the Ministry of Environment in expanding environmental infrastructure and improving environmental regulations to secure global competitiveness.

POSCO Future M also suggested that government support for environmental equipment investment and simplification of licensing procedures are necessary to strengthen the national competitiveness of the secondary battery industry, as environmental equipment investment costs are higher than overseas, particularly in China. They requested support to benefit from the Ministry of Environment’s Green Policy Finance, which subsidizes a portion of loan interest for companies contributing to greenhouse gas reduction.

President Kim Jun-hyung expressed gratitude for implementing the green policy finance project and asked for continued attention until actual execution. He stated, “With the support for environmental infrastructure such as the expansion of public wastewater treatment and industrial water facilities, POSCO Future M will lead the national secondary battery material industry.”

In response, Vice-Minister Im Sang-jun remarked, “We will actively explore support measures for fostering the secondary battery industry, including water supply within industrial complexes and green policy finance support.”

The artificial graphite anode factory of POSCO Future M, which manufactures anode materials using needle coke processed from by-products of the steelmaking process, is gaining more attention as a critical facility contributing to the stabilization of the national supply chain, especially as China moves to control graphite exports. POSCO Future M plans to increase its artificial graphite anode production capacity from 8,000 tons to 18,000 tons this year, with further expansion through additional investment.