P&O Chemicals completes pitch plant for cathode materials

South Korea's P&O Chemical, a joint venture of POSCO Future M Co. and OCI Holdings Co. completed the pitch plant in Tancheon Industrial Complex, Gongju, South Chungcheong Province on Monday. 

Pitch is a key material for electric vehicle (EV) battery cathode coating. It's the first factory that produces pitch in South Korea. 

The facility can produce 15,000 tons annually of high-softening point pitch (HSPP) used to manufacture batteries for 3 million electric vehicles. Pitch is produced through the processing of by-products such as coal tar and residual oil generated during the refining of coal or petroleum.

P&O Chemical's pitch, used for battery cathode coating, withstands high temperatures better than conventional pitch extracted from coal. Coating electrodes made from processed graphite with this pitch reduces battery expansion and increases charging and discharging speeds.

Until now, petroleum-based high-softening point pitch used as a coating material for battery anodes has been imported from Germany, China, and elsewhere.

P&O Chemical has been working on the localization of domestically produced pitch for battery anode coating since August 2021 and has now established a full-scale domestic production system.

The completion of the battery anode pitch facility enhances POSCO Future M's business competitiveness by completing a full value chain, ranging from anodes to cathode raw materials, intermediate materials, and final product.

OCI also expands its business scope into high-value-added advanced materials, transitioning from conventional coal-based liquid pitch to petroleum-based high-softening point pitch.

"The successful localization of battery anode pitch through close cooperation with OCI has strengthened our business competitiveness," CEO of POSCO Future M Kim Jun-Hyung said. He expressed his commitment to contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of the domestic battery industry based on a stable raw material supply chain and exclusive technology.

"With the successful mass production of high-softening point pitch, P&O Chemical has taken a step further to become a core company in the domestic advanced materials sector," CEO of OCI Kim Yoo-Shin commented. "The collaboration between the two companies will develop P&O Chemical into a leading player in the future core materials market."

Write to Mi-Sun Kang at misunny@hankyung.com