Cheaper labour and materials convinced POSCO and Pilbara Minerals to process Australian lithium in South Korea, rather than Western Australia.
says it is 40 per cent cheaper to build a lithium processing plant in South Korea than Australia, as it pushes ahead with construction of an $US800 million plant that will process Australian ore in Gwangyang.
“The investment cost per tonne of production in Korea is 40 per cent lower than the Kwinana and Kemerton projects in Western Australia . The POSCO spokesman said the choice of Gwangyang for the lithium hydroxide plant was also influenced by the fact synergies could be achieved with the POSCO Future M facilities nearby and the battery recycling facilities of another subsidiary, POSCO HY Clean Metal.The Gwangyang plant is expected to start commissioning this year and to be making lithium hydroxide in 2024.
But he said he wanted to see the federal government support such projects, noting that Australia was behind nations such as the US in supporting the critical minerals industry. Those two new lithium hydroxide trains are expected to cost at least $1.25 billion and came a month after Albemarle offered to pay more than $5 billion for control of WA lithium aspirant Liontown Resources.
China’s dominance of Pilbara Minerals’ offtake is typical of the local lithium sector, which sent 96 per cent of its product there in the year to June 2022.
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