To Cut Chinese Graphite Imports: “POSCO to Invest in Tanzanian Mine”

To?cut down on graphite imports from China, Tanzania, home to the second-largest graphite deposit in the world, will see investments from POSCO Group, a South Korean steel and battery material giant. The general trading unit of the company, POSCO International Corp., decided?to pay USD 40 million for a 19.9% share in Black Rock Mining Ltd., an Australian company that is operating the Mahenge, Tanzania, graphite mine. With an anticipated 6 million tons of natural graphite to be hosted by the Mahenge Graphite Project, the Australian business has an 84% share in the project.

The parent company of POSCO Holdings Inc., the only company in South Korea that produces anodes, POSCO Future M Co., wants to use just its graphite instead of relying entirely on graphite from China for the negatively charged anodes in electric car batteries. The team has also been attempting to obtain other battery materials from other nations, including nickel, cobalt, and lithium.

POSCO Chairman Chang In-hwa stated, "We will continue to discover projects that contribute to improving the global competitiveness of the national key industries, such as secondary battery materials."

"We also intend to create supply chains for national security by utilizing the group's diverse business portfolios and international networks."

Major international producers of EV batteries, including LG Energy Solution Ltd., SK On ., and Samsung SDI Co., are based in South Korea and mostly rely on Chinese raw materials. It is estimated that 90% of the graphite used on the peninsula comes from the mainland.

POSCO International has committed to the second phase of the project, which will secure an extra 30,000 tons of natural graphite annually from the Tanzanian mine through its investment in Black Rock Mining. It already signed a contract in May 2023 to guarantee the same volume for 25 years, so it is already taking part in the first phase.

POSCO Group is expanding its supply of graphite by taking part in mine development initiatives in African nations, including Madagascar and Mozambique. Additionally, the company is increasing the amount of synthetic graphite produced in South Korea. According to industry insiders, those actions should cover a large portion of POSCO Future M's projected annual graphite demands, which range from 120,000 to 200,000 tons, by 2027.