POSCO Future M (003670) is stepping up its market push after agreeing to a long-term supply of cathode materials for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
POSCO Future M said on the 6th that it had reached an agreement with a leading domestic battery maker on a large-scale, long-term supply of LFP cathode materials. Under the agreement, POSCO Future M will supply more than 190,000 tons of LFP cathode materials over six years, from next year through 2032. The two companies plan to discuss specific terms and sign a formal contract within the third quarter.
LFP batteries offer lower output than ternary batteries such as nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA), but they have the advantages of lower cost and longer lifespan.
The agreement was reached to preemptively respond to surging demand for energy storage systems (ESS) in North America. As power demand has spiked recently amid a trend of expanding artificial intelligence (AI) data centers worldwide, demand for LFP batteries for ESS has also grown. In addition, in the electric vehicle market, the application of LFP batteries is spreading, centered on entry-level models.
POSCO Future M plans to boost cost competitiveness by applying a new process that utilizes byproducts of the steelmaking process, such as iron oxide, and lithium secured from salt lakes in Argentina, based on group-level supply chains.
Additional orders have also come into view. POSCO Future M is in the final stages of LFP cathode supply contracts with other major clients and plans to expand production capacity as soon as orders are secured. Recently, it converted part of the high-nickel cathode production line at its Pohang plant to LFP cathode production. Customer certification of prototype samples is currently underway, and mass-production supply is expected to begin at the end of this year.
Separately, in May, through C&P New Materials Technology, a joint venture with Fino-CNGR, the company began construction of an LFP cathode plant at the Yeongil Bay No. 4 General Industrial Complex in Pohang, targeting mass production next year. The plant plans to gradually increase production capacity to up to 50,000 tons.
POSCO Future M is also continuing discussions on the supply of cathode and anode materials with the global battery and automaker industries. In March, it signed a large-scale, long-term supply contract worth 1 trillion won for artificial graphite anode materials with a global automaker, and it is also pursuing the construction of a new plant in Vietnam with an investment of about 357 billion won.
