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| POSCO Center in Seoul / Courtesy of POSCO |
By Kim Hyun-bin
POSCO Holdings is seeking to expand overseas nickel production, a key material in secondary batteries, in an effort to strengthen its global nickel value chain. According to POSCO Holdings, the company will invest $441 million to establish a nickel refining plant in Weda Bay Industrial Park on Indonesia's Halmahera Island, Wednesday.
The company is expected to produce about 52,000 tons of nickel matte annually, which is enough to produce batteries for 1 million electric vehicles (EVs). The plan is to start construction this year and begin production in 2025.
Nickel is a crucial material that determines the performance and capacity of EV batteries, and its demand is increasing rapidly due to the swift growth of the EV market.
Indonesia is the holder of the world's largest nickel deposits and is pursuing industrial upgrades across the entire nickel production value chain, providing benefits such as tax and industrial infrastructure support to attract foreign investments.
POSCO Holdings' strategy is to establish an efficient production system for nickel intermediate products through investment in an Indonesian nickel refining plant and to secure a stable global nickel supply chain by continuing to invest in nickel mines and refineries. The move aims to further enhance the self-sufficiency of the group's secondary battery material supply.
POSCO Group is also building a high-purity nickel plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, which will be able to prepare 20,000 tons of high-purity nickel for secondary batteries by supplying nickel ore from New Caledonia through its material subsidiary, NMC.
In 2021, POSCO Holdings acquired a 30 percent stake in Ravensthorpe, an Australian nickel mining and refining company, to secure the Australian nickel supply chain. In addition, the group plans to secure 220,000 tons of nickel by 2030, including recycling used batteries by POSCO HY Clean Metal in Gwangyang and producing precursor materials in China's Jilin Jien Nickel.
POSCO Holdings plans to proceed with its core businesses, including secondary battery materials and lithium-nickel, to become a leading eco-friendly future materials company and forge a future path for the group.
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