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IDB Invest, the private-sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, will lead the financing of up to $700 million for a unit of South Korea’s Posco Holdings (KRX: 005490) to expand lithium production at its Sal de Oro project in Argentina, the lender said on Friday.
The financing would bolster Argentina’s role in the global battery supply chain as automakers and tech companies compete to secure lithium, a critical raw material for electric-vehicle batteries.
The project, in the northwest on the border of the Salta and Catamarca provinces, is expected to produce about 48,000 metric tons of lithium a year once fully operational and create around 620 jobs, according to an IDB Invest statement.
The package includes a loan of up to $250 million from IDB Invest, with a further $450 million expected from other international financial institutions.
The financing is aimed at expanding Argentina’s capacity to process lithium into battery materials. It will support the startup and phased expansion of two Posco Argentina plants, one producing lithium hydroxide and the other lithium carbonate.
Argentina, Chile and Bolivia make up the so-called Lithium Triangle, home to the world’s largest lithium resources.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal, Writing by Iñigo Alexander; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
