Posco Future M said Tuesday it plans to invest 489.4 billion won ($342 million) into Ultium Chem, its cathode materials joint venture with General Motors in Quebec, Canada, despite a slowdown in electric vehicle demand exacerbated by ongoing trade disruptions in North America.
This funding will go through Posco Future Materials, its wholly-owned subsidiary in Canada, to construct a high-nickel cathode material plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons -- enough to power approximately 300,000 electric vehicles. The company expects the facility to be completed by May this year.
“This investment will be directed towards the overall plant construction, facility enhancements and its phased expansion,” said an official from Posco Future M. “In addition, it will be used for (building) infrastructure equipment (within the plant,) which will be jointly utilized (with GM) as the project progresses.”
Posco Future M’s large-scale investment comes during Donald Trump’s tariff threat of 25 percent on almost all goods imported from Canada to the US and the prolonged slump in the EV market.
“Despite the hostile business environment, Posco Future M’s commitment to the partnership with GM is likely to hold, given that it already has spent a significant amount on the project,” said an industry source. The battery material maker’s funding for the Canadian joint venture totals 1.4 trillion won.
Meanwhile, Posco Future M’s cathode plant project with BlueOval SK, a joint venture of SK On and Ford Motor Company, is reportedly at a standstill. Since October 2022, when news broke out of the three-way EV alliance, the company has issued seven similar statements. The most recent statement, issued on Feb. 13, noted that following the meeting between Ford and Posco Group CEOs, discussions on the cathode supply deal are ongoing, but need more time to finalize the agreement.
hyejin2@heraldcorp.com
