POSCO Completes Precursor Plant to Achieve Self-Sufficiency

POSCO Holdings Inc.’s PKX POSCO Future M unit successfully completed its precursor plant with an annual capacity of 45,000 tons in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do Province. To mark its completion, a ceremony was held at the Yulchon Industrial Complex on June 10. The new plant adds in-house capability to produce precursors, a key raw product for cathode materials.

As POSCO Future M will now directly produce precursors, quality can be controlled and supply chain will become self-sufficient and stable, giving it a competitive edge. The plant is built within the existing Gwangyang cathode material plant site on a total area of 22,400 sq.m. With a production capacity of 45,000 tons of precursors, the plant will be able to manufacture batteries for 500,000 electric vehicles.

Korea is mainly dependent on Chinese imports for precursors. With newer tax implication in international trade, POSCO Future M rightly aims to bring down the dependency. POSCO Future M has also enhanced capabilities to source nickel from POSCO group. The unit processes non-Chinese nickel raw materials into high-purity nickel sulfate and supplies this to its precursor plant. It has also achieved independent lithium sourcing with supplies from POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution using Australian ore, POSCO Lithium Solution utilizing Argentine brine and POSCO HY Clean Metal.

POSCO Future M is focused on its efforts to emerge as a global top-tier secondary battery materials company by strengthening supply-chain management, developing a research base and expanding portfolio.

PKX stock has lost 28.9% over the past year compared with the industry’s 28.5% decline.

PKX’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

PKX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Akzo Nobel N.V. AKZOY, Newmont Corporation NEM and Balchem Corporation BCPC. While AKZOY and NEM currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, BCPC carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Akzo Nobel’s current-year earnings is pegged at $1.67 per share, implying a 19.3% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing once.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NEM’s current-year earnings is pegged at $4.18 per share, indicating a 20.1% year-over-year rise.Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, with an average surprise of 32.41%. NEM’s shares have gained 45% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCPC’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $5.15 per share, indicating a rise of 31% from year-ago levels. The company’s earnings beat the consensus estimate in two of the trailing four quarters while missing the rest. Its shares have gained 5.4% in the past year.

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