Posco Int'l to supply $4.42B battery materials to Lotte Energy

Posco International will supply battery materials worth $4.42 billion to Lotte Energy Materials, including 600,000 tons of copper foil raw materials until 2033. The global copper foil market is expected to triple by 2025 due to a rise in EV adoption.

From third from left to right: Posco International CEO Jeong Tak, Lotte Chemical CEO Kim Gyo-hyun, and Lotte Energy Materials CEO Kim Yeon-seop pose for a photo during a copper material supply agreement signing ceremony held in southern Seoul, Wednesday. [LOTTE ENERGY MATERIALS]

Posco International, an energy and trading company, will supply battery materials worth 6 trillion won ($4.42 billion) to Lotte Energy Materials.

With the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Wednesday, Posco International will supply 600,000 tons of raw materials for copper foils until 2033 to Lotte Energy Materials, the battery component manufacturer.

Raw materials for copper foils include copper scraps such as millberries and granules.

Copper foil, a core component of a lithium-ion battery cell for EVs, is a thin sheet of copper that is used as an anode current collector. Driven by a wider adoption of EVs, the global copper foil market volume is expected to nearly triple from 265,000 tons in 2021 to 748,000 tons by 2025, according to market tracker SNE Research.

Posco International explained that the copper scraps that it will supply to Lotte Materials are recycled materials collected from its overseas suppliers. The company, which formed a supply network with some 80 companies worldwide, is the largest copper material supplier among domestic companies.

Posco International and Lotte Energy Materials also set up a joint committee consisting of both parties’ executives and employees to further strengthen ties.

Lotte Energy Materials announced its plan to build the 440,400-square-meter (108.8-acre) high-end copper foil factory with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons in Spain on Aug. 7. Commercial operations will begin in 2025. The company is also expanding production capacity at its Malaysian plant with two new facilities under construction.

Lotte Energy Materials currently has an annual copper foil production capacity of 60,000 tons and plans to push this figure up to 240,000 tons by 2028.

The signing ceremony was held on Wednesday at Lotte Signiel Hotel in southern Seoul, with Posco International CEO Jeong Tak, Lotte Chemical CEO Kim Gyo-hyun and Lotte Energy Materials CEO Kim Yeon-seop in attendance.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]