POSCO completes second lithium plant phase in Argentina, targeting 50,000-ton output

POSCO Holdings marked the completion of the upstream phase of its second lithium extraction plant at Argentina’s Hombre Muerto Salt Flat, a site 4,000 meters above sea level. The ceremony was attended by POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa, POSCO Argentina President Park Hyun, Argentine presidential chief of staff Karina Milei, and Korean Ambassador Lee Chong-hwa. The $954 million investment expands lithium carbonate capacity by 23,000 tons, joining Plant 1’s 25,000-ton output for a combined 48,000 tons annually.

Produced carbonate will be sent to a downstream complex in Yulchon, South Jeolla Province, expected to start in 2027 and convert into 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, raising POSCO’s brine-based hydroxide capacity to 50,000 tons. The project benefits from Argentina’s Regimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones and a $700 million short-term loan from IDB Invest. POSCO also signed an MoU with Salta and Catamarca provincial governments for future Plants 3 and 4, each planned for 25,000 tons of carbonate, aiming for a 100,000-ton annual brine lithium system by 2033.