SEOUL-- POSCO Holdings Inc., South Korea's top steelmaker, said Friday it has signed a preliminary deal with a Chinese firm for the production of nickel in Indonesia.
Under the deal with Chinese resource trading and mining firm Ningbo Liqin, POSCO will build a plant to produce 120,000 tons of mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate (MHP) per year on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island.
In the initial stage, the two will start building a plant to produce 60,000 tons of nickel, enough to make 1.2 million electric vehicles (EVs). Its production will start in 2025, according to POSCO Holdings.
Nickel is a core chemical used in making cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Last year, POSCO Holdings broke ground for a plant in South Korea that refines high-purity nickel. The facility, with an annual production of 20,000 tons of high-purity nickel, will be built this year.
In 2021, POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, purchased a 30 percent stake in the Ravensthorpe Nickel Operation in Australia.
POSCO Holdings has been accelerating its moves to expand EV development projects and ones to refine resources for EVs.
By 2030, the steel giant aims to produce 200,000 tons of nickel and 300,000 tons of lithium.
Ningbo Liqin already established its nickel-refining facility in Indonesia, which holds the world's largest nickel reserve.
Source: Yonhap News Agency