Posco Chemical’s materials that go inside the plus sides of electric vehicle batteries (Posco Chemical)

Posco Chemical posted record revenues in 2021, largely buoyed by a robust performance of its secondary battery materials business, the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

According to the refractory and secondary battery materials arm of South Korean steel giant Posco, its sales surged 27 percent to 1.98 trillion won ($1.65 billion) on-year, a record figure in the company’s history.

Operating profits also soared 101.9 percent to 121.7 billion won in the same period.

Posco Chemical’s energy materials division, which manufactures materials that go inside the plus sides of electric vehicles, propelled the record performance. The division’s sales spiked 59.7 percent to 851.8 billion won, which accounts for 42.8 percent of the firm’s total sales.

As demand soars for EV batteries, Posco Chemical is expanding aggressively to meet the demand. In May, the firm will complete the world’s largest factory to produce materials for the plus sides of EV batteries. Once completed, the facility, with an annual production capacity of 90,000 metric tons, will be the biggest in the world.

Last month, Posco Chemical and General Motors agreed to form a joint venture and build a factory in North America to locally produce materials for the plus sides. Set for completion in 2024, the new facility will produce and supply the materials to Ultium Cells, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, which are together building three EV factories in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)