POSCO : CEO Kwon, "POSCO Will Build a Smart Factory for the World's Highest Quality Anode Materials for Secondary Cell Batteries"

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon, who has been working on improving profitability of the company's non-steel business since he took office for the second term last March, said he would build a smart factory to automatically produce the world's best quality anode materials for secondary cell batteries.

CEO Kwon visited POSCO Chemtech's anode material factory in the Jeonui Industrial Complex in Sejong City on April 14, and took a tour of new facilities and production lines to provide motivation to the employees working there.

'We need to continue our R&D and investments to preempt the anode material market where demand for mid- to large-sized secondary cell batteries for electric vehicles and ESSs (Energy Storage Systems) among others is growing rapidly', CEO Kwon said. 'We will build an intelligent smart factory that will automatically produce the world's best quality anode materials and secure future competitiveness based on the factory.'

Over the past 50-plus years, POSCO Chemtech has accumulated technological know-how and experience in the sector of basic industrial materials such as primarily producing refractories and quicklime and entering the coal chemical industry which is the production base for coal tar and crude light oil. Based on this know-how, POSCO Chemtech succeeded in mass-producing anode materials for high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles by making a foray into the natural graphite anode material business.

Since then, the company has expanded its production capacity to 6000 tons with continuous technological development and investment. The company plans to build a system with a total production capacity of 30000 tons by 2020 to become a global rechargeable battery material company with 200 billion won in sales.

Aside from POSCO Chemtech which produces anode materials, POSCO is supplying major materials for secondary cell batteries by establishing POSCO ESM, which produces cathode materials.

To top it off, in February, pursuant to the stable supply of lithium, a material for cathode materials, POSCO completed a lithium production (PosLX) plant, which produces lithium carbonate from lithium phosphate which is extracted from waste secondary batteries at Gwangyang Works.

Meanwhile, CEO Kwon has been managing POSCO Daewoo and POSCO E&C by going to Songdo on a weekly basis, where POSCO Daewoo and POSCO E&C are located, ever since a general shareholders meeting was held in March, to increase the competitiveness of the group's non-steel division. The CEO has also been visiting sites of the 'Innovation POSCO Project which aims at enhancing affiliates' competitiveness and mentoring the employees there.