POSCO Future M-OCI Joint Venture Completes Korea's First Anode Material Coating 'Pitch' Plant

Yeonsan 15,000t Scale
Capable of Powering 3 Million Electric Vehicle Batteries

A panoramic view of the pitch factory completed by P&O Chemical on the 13th in Gongju, Chungnam. The factory can produce 15,000 tons of product annually, enough to be applied to batteries for approximately 3 million electric vehicles. Photo by POSCO Future M

Posco Future M and OCI Holdings's advanced chemical materials joint venture, P&OChemical, will produce battery anode coating pitch for the first time in Korea.

P&OChemical held a completion ceremony for its pitch factory on the 13th at the Tancheon Industrial Complex in Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do. The event was attended by Kim Jun-hyung, President of Posco Future M; Kim Yoo-shin, President of OCI; Yoo Byung-ok, Vice President and Head of Eco-friendly Future Materials at Posco Holdings; Kim Jong-guk, President of P&OChemical; and Choi Won-cheol, Mayor of Gongju.

The newly completed factory can produce 15,000 tons annually of high softening point pitch used to manufacture batteries for approximately 3 million electric vehicles.

Pitch is manufactured by processing by-products such as coal tar and residual oil generated during coal or petroleum refining, and is used as a coating agent for anode materials or as a raw material for electrode rods that trigger heat in steel mills.

The pitch produced by P&OChemical is a petroleum-based high softening point product that can withstand higher temperatures than general pitch, used for anode coating, and plays a role in reducing battery swelling and increasing charge-discharge speed.

P&OChemical was established in July 2020 as a joint venture between Posco Future M and OCI Holdings to promote advanced chemical materials businesses such as semiconductor etching hydrogen peroxide, and has been pursuing the localization of anode coating pitch since August 2021.

With the completion of this pitch factory, Posco Future M takes a step closer to completing the full value chain from cathode materials to anode raw materials, intermediate materials, and final product production, further enhancing its business competitiveness, while OCI expands its business area from coal-based liquid pitch to petroleum-based high softening point pitch in the high value-added advanced materials sector.

In particular, Posco Future M is accelerating the establishment of a stable raw material supply chain for anode material production. Natural graphite will be secured in Tanzania and Madagascar through Posco Group's mining rights investments, and synthetic graphite raw material, needle coke, will be directly produced by its subsidiary Posco MC Materials using coal tar, a by-product of the steelmaking process.

At the event, Kim Jun-hyung, President of Posco Future M, stated, "Through close cooperation with OCI, we have succeeded in internalizing pitch for anode coating, further strengthening our business competitiveness. Based on a stable raw material supply chain and unique technology, we will supply high-quality products and contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the domestic battery industry."

Kim Yoo-shin, President of OCI, said, "Following the high-purity hydrogen peroxide, the successful mass production of high softening point pitch has taken P&OChemical one step closer to becoming a core company in Korea's advanced materials sector. We will continue to actively collaborate to develop P&OChemical into a leading company in the future core materials market."

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