On December 16, POSCO announced that it would invest US$830 million to build a lithium hydroxide plant in Argentina for the production of battery materials for electric vehicles. It is reported that the plant will start construction in the first half of 2022, and will be completed and put into production in the first half of 2024. After completion, it can produce 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually, which can meet the annual production demand of 600,000 electric vehicles.
In addition, the board of directors of POSCO approved on December 10 a plan to build a lithium hydroxide plant using raw materials stored in the Hombre Muerto salt lake in Argentina. Lithium hydroxide is the core material for manufacturing battery cathodes. Compared with lithium carbonate batteries, lithium hydroxide batteries have a longer service life. In response to the growing demand for lithium in the market, in 2018, POSCO acquired the mining rights of the Hombre Muerto salt lake from Australia’s Galaxy Resources for US$280 million. In 2020, POSCO confirmed that the lake contained 13.5 million tons of lithium, and immediately built and operated a small demonstration plant by the lake.
POSCO said that it may further expand the Argentine lithium hydroxide plant after the project is completed and put into operation, so that the plant’s annual production capacity will be expanded by another 250,000 tons.