{"id":126252,"date":"2026-08-20T10:06:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/126252\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T10:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:06:39","slug":"posco-enters-lfp-cathode-market-with-major-long-term-supply-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/126252\/","title":{"rendered":"POSCO Enters LFP Cathode Market With Major Long-Term Supply Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

POSCO Holdings\u00a0Inc.\u00a0PKX,\u00a0via its subsidiary POSCO\u00a0Future M, is strengthening its position in the global battery-materials industry as its\u00a0unit\u00a0makes a major entry into the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode-material market.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

POSCO has reached a large-scale, long-term supply agreement with a major South Korean battery manufacturer to supply more than 190,000 metric tons of LFP cathode materials over six years from 2027 through 2032. The two companies are expected to\u00a0finalize\u00a0the terms and sign a formal contract in the third quarter of 2026.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The agreement marks POSCO’s first major LFP cathode-material order and\u00a0represents\u00a0an important diversification of its battery-materials portfolio, which has historically been focused on high-nickel cathode materials. LFP batteries are increasingly being adopted in energy storage systems (ESS) because of their lower cost, long cycle\u00a0life\u00a0and thermal stability. Demand for LFP-based ESS is rising\u00a0rapidly in North America as electricity consumption\u00a0increases\u00a0and utilities and data-center operators invest in large-scale energy storage. The expansion of AI data centers is further supporting this trend by increasing demand for reliable power infrastructure.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

To support the new business, POSCO has converted part of its Pohang facility’s existing high-nickel cathode production lines to LFP production. Customer prototype certification is currently underway, with mass production and supply targeted to begin by the end of 2026. This approach allows the company to enter the LFP market\u00a0relatively quickly\u00a0while\u00a0leveraging\u00a0existing manufacturing infrastructure rather than relying entirely on new capacity.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

A key competitive advantage will be POSCO Group’s vertically integrated raw-material supply chain. POSCO plans to improve the cost competitiveness of its LFP cathode materials by using iron oxide generated as a by-product of POSCO’s steelmaking operations along with lithium sourced from salt lakes in Argentina. This could help reduce raw-material costs and strengthen supply-chain security, which is particularly important as North American customers seek alternatives to Chinese battery-material suppliers.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The company is also pursuing\u00a0additional\u00a0cathode and anode material supply agreements with global battery manufacturers and automakers,\u00a0leveraging\u00a0its integrated supply chain and technological capabilities to navigate evolving trade regulations across key markets.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

In March, POSCO secured a large-scale, long-term contract worth approximately KRW 1 trillion with a global automaker to supply synthetic graphite anode materials. To support growing demand, the company is investing approximately KRW 357 billion to\u00a0establish\u00a0a new synthetic graphite anode material plant in Vietnam, which will further expand its production capacity.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Separately, CNP New Material Technology, a joint venture between POSCO and FINO-CNGR, began construction of an LFP cathode-material plant at the\u00a0Yeongil\u00a0Bay General Industrial Complex 4 in Pohang in May. The facility is expected to begin mass production in 2027, with production capacity planned to be expanded in phases to as much as 50,000 tons annually.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

PKX’s Price Performance <\/p>\n

Shares of\u00a0POSCO\u00a0have gained 8.2% over the past year compared with a 22.5% decline in its\u00a0industry. <\/p>\n

\"Zacks<\/a> Zacks Investment Research <\/p>\n

mage Source: Zacks Investment Research <\/p>\n

PKX’s Zacks Rank &\u00a0Other\u00a0Key Picks <\/p>\n

PKX currently carries\u00a0a Zacks\u00a0Rank #2 (Buy). <\/p>\n

Other top-ranked stocks in the\u00a0Conglomerates\u00a0space\u00a0include\u00a0Grupo Cibest S.A.\u00a0CIB,\u00a03M Company\u00a0MMM\u00a0and\u00a0Griffon\u00a0Corporation\u00a0GFF. CIB\u00a0sports\u00a0a Zacks\u00a0Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while MMM\u00a0and\u00a0GFF carry\u00a0a Zacks\u00a0Rank #2.\u00a0You can see\u00a0the complete list of today’s Zacks #1\u00a0Rank\u00a0stocks\u00a0here. <\/p>\n

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for\u00a0CIB’s current-year earnings is pegged at\u00a0$10.87\u00a0per share, indicating a\u00a048.7% year-over-year\u00a0decrease.\u00a0Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in\u00a0two\u00a0of the trailing four quarters\u00a0and missed twice, with the average\u00a0earnings surprise\u00a0being\u00a012.1%.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for\u00a0MMM’s current-year earnings is pegged at $8.96\u00a0per share, indicating a\u00a011.2% year-over-year increase.\u00a0Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in\u00a0all\u00a0of\u00a0the trailing four quarters, with the average\u00a0earnings surprise\u00a0being\u00a04.1%.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for\u00a0GFF’s current\u00a0fiscal-year\u00a0earnings is pegged at\u00a0$5.41\u00a0per share.\u00a0Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in\u00a0three\u00a0of the trailing four quarters\u00a0and missed once, with the average\u00a0earnings surprise\u00a0being\u00a06.6%.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report<\/a> <\/p>\n

POSCO Holdings Inc. (PKX) : Free Stock Analysis Report<\/a> <\/p>\n

3M Company (MMM) : Free Stock Analysis Report<\/a> <\/p>\n

Grupo Cibest S.A. – Sponsored ADR (CIB) : Free Stock Analysis Report<\/a> <\/p>\n

Griffon Corporation (GFF) : Free Stock Analysis Report<\/a> <\/p>\n

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).<\/a> <\/p>\n

Zacks Investment Research<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"POSCO Holdings\u00a0Inc.\u00a0PKX,\u00a0via its subsidiary POSCO\u00a0Future M, is strengthening its position in the global battery-materials industry as its\u00a0unit\u00a0makes a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[380],"tags":[4983,4980,3798,4259,65008,442,2782,65007],"class_list":["post-126252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-posco","tag-cathode-and-anode","tag-cathode-materials","tag-lfp","tag-lfp-cathode-materials","tag-material-supply","tag-posco","tag-production-capacity","tag-supply-agreement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}