POSCO Holdings has secured approximately ₩1 trillion (approximately $726.6 million) in funding capacity for its Argentine brine lithium business, following approval of a $700 million (approximately ₩960 billion) short-term credit line from IDB Invest, the private-sector investment arm of the IDB Group.

POSCO Holdings announced on the 28th that POSCO Argentina, its Argentine brine lithium production subsidiary, obtained approval for a total $700 million short-term credit line from IDB Invest on the 4th. The financial support is part of the IDB Group’s “Latin America Critical Minerals Supply Chain Support Strategy,” targeting resource development projects with proven business viability and competitiveness in the region.

The IDB reportedly gave high marks to POSCO Argentina’s lithium project for meeting global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards while contributing to economic development in Latin America.

With the credit line secured, POSCO Argentina can now procure working capital as needed for its first brine lithium plant and its second plant, scheduled for completion in the second half of this year. By proactively securing liquidity required for large-scale production facility operations, the company is expected to reduce financial burdens during future production expansion.

Notably, financing cost reductions are anticipated. POSCO Argentina can benefit not only from relatively low-interest working capital through the IDB but also from tax incentives on interest and financial transaction taxes incurred during borrowing, in accordance with the intergovernmental IDB establishment agreement. This structure lowers funding costs and enhances the profitability of the Argentine lithium business.

POSCO Holdings plans to complete its second plant with an annual capacity of 25,000 tons in October this year. Once both plants are fully operational, the company will have an annual lithium production capacity of 50,000 tons.

The recent improvement in the Argentine lithium business’s performance is also noteworthy. POSCO Argentina achieved its first quarterly profit in Q2 this year. Combined with the Argentine government’s investment incentives and funding support from international financial institutions, the business’s stability is assessed to have strengthened further.

Previously, POSCO Holdings also obtained approval from the Argentine government under the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI). RIGI is a framework established by the Argentine government to attract large-scale investments, offering approved companies incentives including tax and customs benefits.

POSCO Holdings views the successive RIGI approval and IDB Group financial support—which followed the South Korea-Argentina summit held on July 31—as achievements of public-private cooperation for securing critical mineral supply chains.

This financing is expected to bolster POSCO Group’s resource-centric growth strategy. POSCO Group is pursuing a “Triple Core” growth strategy built on three pillars: industrial resources such as steel; strategic resources including lithium, cathode materials, anode materials, rare earth elements, and rare gases; and energy resources such as LNG and renewable energy.

POSCO Holdings plans to continue expanding its critical mineral supply chains, including lithium, based on production and profitability improvements in its Argentine lithium business.