Posco Chemical Company announced it had signed a binding agreement to supply cathode active materials (CAM) to General Motors, in a deal worth KRW13.8bn (US$11m) over the next three years.
The US carmaker is stepping up its switch to electric vehicles with plans to establish a production capacity of one million EVs per year in North America by the end of 2025.
CAMs include process nickel, cobalt and lithium and typically account for around 40% of the value of EV batteries.
Posco said the new deal to provide CAM to the GM Ultium Cells joint venture with LG Energy Solutions runs until the end of 2025, to be supplied from the Gwayngyang processing facility in South Korea.
This is in addition to the agreement between Ultium Cells and the joint venture between GM and Posco Chemical, called Ultium CAM, which has a CAM processing plant under construction in Quebec province, Canada. This deal begins in 2025, to supply 30,000 tons of CAM annually to Ultium Cells over eight years.
Posco said the deal strengthened its supply deal with GM and battery supplier LG Energy Solution.