GM & POSCO Chemical to Invest $327 Million in Canadian Battery Material Plant

South Korea’s POSCO Chemical has announced that its joint venture with General Motors has been finalised. It will be called Ultium CAM and will be located in Quebec, Canada. The two companies are investing a combined $327 million (USD) to form the joint venture (JV).

The Ultium CAM JV plans to produce thousands of tons of material annually, primarily going to GM’s Ultium Cells, LLC plants in the US.

In late-2021 the companies announced they would work together to create a joint venture for North American production of Cathode Active Materials (CAM,) an important components in electric vehicle batteries.

POSCO Chemical and GM will hold 85% and 15% stakes respectively.

The JV will build a plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons of material in Quebec.

Construction of the production plant will begin in August 2022 and aimed to be completed in the second half of 2024.

Mr. Min Kyung-Zoon, the CEO of POSCO Chemical, says: “We will produce the highest quality battery materials and enhance customer competitiveness based on world-class technology and close cooperation between the two companies. We will lead the transition of electric vehicle era in North America by establishing a stronger partnership with GM.”

“The Ultium CAM JV with POSCO Chemical supports GM’s rapid scaling of EV production, as we build a more sustainable and more North America-focused supply chain,” adds Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain.

POSCO Chemical plans to increase the annual production capacity of 105,000 tons of cathode active materials by 2022 to 280,000 tons by 2025 and 610,000 tons by 2030.