POSCO Holdings to Produce Nickel for Secondary Batteries in Indonesia as Well

Third Supply Chain After New Caledonia and Australia
MOU with China's Ningbo Liqin for Nickel Production
Production from 2025... Enough for 1.2 Million Electric Vehicles

POSCO Holdings is starting a nickel business for secondary batteries in Indonesia, the world's largest nickel holder and producer.

On the 23rd, POSCO Holdings signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for mutual cooperation in nickel production with China's Ningbo Liqin in Jakarta, Indonesia. POSCO Holdings will establish a nickel supply chain in Indonesia following New Caledonia and Australia. Indonesia has a total nickel reserve of 21 million tons. Nickel is a key raw material that determines the performance of electric vehicles, such as driving range, by increasing the charging capacity of secondary batteries.

Ningbo Liqin is a Chinese company engaged in the entire value chain from nickel mining to refining and trading. It has strengths in hydrometallurgical technology that extracts nickel by dissolving nickel ore in mountains, and in 2021, it established and operates Indonesia's first hydrometallurgical plant for secondary battery nickel.

POSCO Holdings signed a memorandum of understanding for mutual cooperation in nickel production with Ningbo Liqin of China in Jakarta, Indonesia on the 23rd. Lee Kyung-seop, Head of Secondary Battery Materials Business Promotion Group at POSCO Holdings (left), Jiang Xinfang, General Manager of Ningbo Liqin Photo by POSCO Holdings

Through this agreement, POSCO Holdings and Ningbo Liqin plan to build a nickel intermediate material production plant with an annual capacity of 120,000 tons of nickel content on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. In the first phase, a production plant with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons of nickel content will be constructed within this year and production is scheduled to begin in 2025. Nickel intermediate material refers to an intermediate product (about 40% nickel content) produced through a process of dissolving nickel ore (about 1% nickel content) in sulfuric acid and removing impurities. Nickel intermediate material is an intermediate raw material for producing nickel sulfate, which is used as cathode material for secondary batteries.

At the signing ceremony, Lee Kyung-seop, Head of the Secondary Battery Materials Business Promotion Group at POSCO Holdings, and Jiang Xinfang, General Manager of Ningbo Liqin, attended. Lee emphasized, "Through cooperation with Ningbo Liqin, a leading company in nickel hydrometallurgy, we will be able to stably secure cost-competitive Indonesian nickel, further strengthening the competitiveness of the nickel business, which is a key pillar of POSCO Group's secondary battery materials business."

Going forward, POSCO Holdings plans to establish a global supply chain encompassing New Caledonia, Australia, and Indonesia through this joint venture with Ningbo Liqin in the Indonesian nickel business. By 2030, it aims to build a production and sales system for 220,000 tons of nickel, 300,000 tons of lithium, 610,000 tons of cathode materials, and 320,000 tons of anode materials, further solidifying its competitive edge in the secondary battery materials value chain.

POSCO Group is engaged in mining and refining joint ventures based on New Caledonia's nickel resources, including NMC, a raw material corporation in New Caledonia, and SNNC, a domestic refining company. In connection with SNNC, it is constructing a nickel sulfate refining plant for secondary batteries with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons, scheduled for completion in the second half of 2023. Additionally, in 2021, it acquired a 30% stake in Ravensthorpe, an Australian nickel mining and refining company, securing Australian nickel resources as well.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.