POSCO Chemical moves into activated carbon business

POSCO Chemical Co. will join hands with Dong-Suh Chemical Industries Co. Ltd. to move into the activated carbon business, an eco-friendly material for purifying water and air.

POSCO Chemical said on Thursday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for collaboration in the activated carbon business at Cheongsong-dae Park in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday, with POSCO Chemical President Kim Joon-hyeong and Dong-Suh Chemical Chairman Jeon Jang-yeol in attendance.

Activated carbon is an eco-friendly material manufactured by processing wood or coal in high heat. It is used as a water and air purifier and filter by removing pollutants with micropores with strong adsorption properties.

Recently, it is widely in use in industrial applications, including high-efficiency energy storage (supercapacitors).

The two parties plan to create an activated carbon joint venture in the second half of this year and complete building a plant with an annual capacity of 7,000 tons by the end of 2024.

Activated carbon is produced by recycling the oil generated during coke manufacturing in the steelmaking process. POSCO Chemical will be responsible for supplying raw materials and manufacturing activated carbon, while Dong-Suh Chemical will take charge of processing raw materials.

Write to Seo-Woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com