[SMM Steel] South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has officially approved the development of a 1.34 million m2 site for POSCO’s hydrogen-based steel plant in Pohang via coastal reclamation. The project, including the HyREX pilot facility, targets a 300,000 mt annual capacity by 2028 and is a cornerstone of South Korea’s strategy to commercialize hydrogen steelmaking by 2030.

According to industry sources on the 25th, the French government announced the launch of the “France Batterie” alliance at the gigafactory of Automotive Cell Company (ACC) located in Billy-Berclau, northern France. ProLogium Technology, a solid-state battery company backed by investments from POSCO and EV Advanced Materials, has joined the alliance.

On the 25th at POSCO Center in Seoul, POSCO Future M signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kumho Petrochemical and BEI for the joint development of anode-free lithium metal battery technology. The anode-free lithium metal battery under development eliminates the use of an anode material, enabling a 30–50% increase in energy density by utilizing the additional space within the battery.

POSCO International said on Monday that it was accelerating efforts to build a stable global supply chain for heavy rare earths, a key component in EV motors, by establishing its first corporate venture capital (CVC) fund. The company said it had set up a 25 billion won (about $16 million) CVC fund in partnership with POSCO Venture Capital, marking its first such initiative. As the fund’s first deployment, the company will invest 8 billion won in a China rare earth separation and refining specialist enterprise.

POSCO HY Clean Metal has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mitsui & Co. to collaborate on recycling end-of-life batteries through Hydrovolt. Under the agreement, POSCO will secure a stable supply of large volumes of black mass produced by Hydrovolt at its facility in Fredrikstad, Norway.

POSCO Future M announced on the 13th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sila at InterBattery 2026 held at COEX in Seoul on March 11. Sila, headquartered in California, is a battery materials company specializing in high-performance silicon anode technology.