Korean conglomerate Posco is leading a push to move production of battery materials from mainland China to South Korea, as companies around the world adapt to qualify for US tax incentives reshaping the global EV supply chain.The Inflation Reduction Act (Ira), US president Joe Biden’s flagship climate legislation, offers billions of dollars in subsidies to EV manufacturers and battery makers to source components from the US and its free trade partners rather than from China.
But Korean producers of the anodes and cathodes in EV batteries produced by LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and others still rely on Chinese partners to source and refine certain critical minerals. China controls the supply chain for dozens of minerals for clean technologies, producing about 90 per cent of the world’s rare earth elements.
South Korean companies have established a series of joint ventures with Chinese companies in recent months to establish domestic facilities and produce materials that will qualify as Ira-compliant.