Japanese automaker Honda Motor [HMC:US] and South Korean steelmaker POSCO Holdings [PKX:US] have formed a partnership to explore collaboration possibilities in recycling electric vehicle (EV) batteries and other initiatives, which help reduce their carbon footprints, as reported by Nikkei Asia on April 12. The two companies will also explore procurement of cathode and anode material, as well as future battery materials. In the steel sector, the two firms plan to work on automotive steel sheets produced through a process that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and ultra-high tensile steel sheet that further reduces vehicle weight. To realize a low-carbon society, they also aim to expand the use of recycled materials and establish a closed-loop recycling system that will utilize recycled battery materials. 

The demand for eco-friendly steel and key battery materials like nickel and lithium is growing rapidly due to a global transition to EVs amid stricter carbon emission standards. Market forecasts anticipate global EV demand to surge from about 13.57m units this year to around 22.36m units in 2025 and 59m in 2030. According to POSCO Chairman, Choi Jeong-Woo, the recent collaboration between the two firms expanded their existing partnership in the steel sector to the secondary battery material sector. Moreover, Chairman Choi added that POSCO’s full value chain for battery materials will be instrumental in Honda’s plan to expand its electric vehicle business. Honda has already committed to carbon neutrality for all product categories by 2050 and announced plans to transition all new vehicles to EVs or fuel cell vehicles by 2040.

Sources:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Honda-and-POSCO-to-partner-on-EV-battery-recycling-materials

https://global.honda/newsroom/news/2023/c230411eng.html

https://www.kedglobal.com/electric-vehicles/newsView/ked202304120001