Chairman Choi Yunbeom Discusses Critical Mineral Supply Chain Cooperation with Overseas Officials

Attending the International Energy Agency Summit

Choi Yoon-beom, Chairman of Korea Zinc, met with prominent international figures to discuss cooperation for establishing a core minerals supply chain.

Chairman Choi was the only domestic company representative invited to the "Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit" hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the 28th of last month (local time) in Paris, France. The event was attended by energy and mineral resource ministers from over 50 countries, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, as well as global companies in the critical minerals sector, investors, international organizations, and civil society.

Chairman Choi Yoon-beom of Korea Zinc is speaking at the International Energy Agency (IEA) Critical Minerals Summit on the 28th of last month.

The agenda focused on promoting diversified critical mineral supply chains, technological innovation and resource recycling expansion, and maintaining sustainable and responsible supply chains. Chairman Choi participated as a speaker in the "Promoting Diversified Critical Mineral Supply Chains" session, comparing the characteristics and differences of the global zinc and nickel markets, emphasizing the need for cooperation among governments, the private sector, and globally to enhance supply chain stability.

Chairman Choi stated, "The issue of nickel supply chains highly dependent on specific countries is directly linked to energy security, so the government must carefully determine areas to focus support and investment through global policy coordination." He added, "The roles of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the European Union's (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) are very important to reduce dependence on critical minerals overly concentrated in specific countries or regions."

Korea Zinc plans to build and operate an "all-in-one" nickel refinery with an annual capacity of 42.6 million tons of nickel, aiming for completion in 2025. It will be capable of producing various nickel raw materials tailored to customer demands and will hold the world's number one nickel sulfate production capacity outside of China.

Prior to attending, on the 27th, Chairman Choi held meetings with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and OECD Deputy Secretary-General Fabrizia Lapecorella to discuss diversification strategies for the secondary battery critical minerals supply chain. When explaining that Korea Zinc’s nickel refinery would contribute to completing the supply chain at the OECD member country level, the heads of international organizations expressed strong agreement and showed great interest.

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