POSCO Future M develops technology to make electrode rods

POSCO Future M Co., a battery material and steel manufacturing equipment supplier, said on Thursday it has developed electrode rod manufacturing technology, the first South Korean company to do so, amid major economies' stricter export controls on key industrial materials.

It has succeeded in producing ultra-high-power electrode rods, key components in the steel manufacturing process, with a diameter of 300 millimeters.

Electrode rods are used to melt steel scrap in electric furnaces or to remove impurities from molten iron in the refining process.

The rods convert electricity into thermal energy. The larger the diameter of the electrode rod and the higher the electrode density, the greater the increase in electric power, thereby improving production efficiency.

South Korea’s steelmakers import all of their electrode rod needs from China, Japan and India for a total of 30,000 tons annually. POSCO Future M's development of the technology is expected to contribute to strengthening the country's steel supply chain.

In line with the push for environmental, social and governance management, demand is growing for high-density electrode rods for electric furnaces emitting less carbon than blast furnaces.

The unit of POSCO Group will consider commercializing its electrode rods in cooperation with its steelmaking affiliate that completed building electric furnaces at its Gwangyang steel plant in South Jeolla Province early this year.

Write to Yeonhee Kim at yhkim@hankyung.com

Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.