By Kwanwoo Jun
Shares in Posco Holdings rose after the South Korean steel giant announced a lithium business investment of about $765 million in Australia.
The company's stock climbed 5.1% to close at 318,500 won, equivalent to $218.03, on Wednesday, its sharpest daily percentage gain in about a month. The benchmark Kospi gained 1.1%.
The stock advanced after Posco Holdings, parent of battery-material supplier Posco Future M, confirmed in a regulatory filing that it had agreed to buy a 30% stake in the lithium business of Australia's Mineral Resources for 1.112 trillion won.
Posco will secure the stake in the operational lithium business through a new joint venture that will hold Mineral Resources' 50% stake each in the Wodgina and Mt Marion lithium mines in Western Australia, the Australian miner said in a statement.
Posco will receive spodumene concentrate, an essential source of lithium, in proportion to its stake in the joint venture that will underpin its future investment in new downstream processing facilities.
Mineral Resources expects the deal with Posco, which has been approved by the directors of both companies, to be completed in the first half of 2026.
In a separate statement Wednesday, Posco said the latest lithium deal is part of its continuing effort to "enhance cost competitiveness and secure a stable supply of raw materials through rapid and aggressive investment" in global lithium resources.
Last week, the Korean steelmaker moved to acquire full ownership of an Argentine subsidiary of Canada's Lithium South Development for about 95 billion won. Posco said the Canadian resources developer holds lithium mining rights in and around the Hombre Muerto salt lake.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-12-25 0307ET
