Posco Holdings announced it has agreed to build a pilot lithium processing plant in the US, in partnership with Australia’s Anson Resources, as the South Korean steel and chemicals group looks to continue to strengthen its electric vehicle (EV) battery raw materials supply chain. The company is also looking to reduce its dependence on Chinese suppliers, to meet new import restrictions imposed by the Trump administration in the US.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a new pilot plant next year in Green River City, Utah, to assess the feasibility of Posco’s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology for large-scale commercial production. The technology depends on natural evaporation to extract lithium from large, low-concentration brine lakes.

This would be the first time a South Korean company has taken steps toward directly producing lithium in North America. Domestic rivals such as LG Chem have supply agreements with local lithium producers to supply the local US market, rather than producing lithium directly. Anson Resources holds mining rights for the lithium brine site in Utah.

Posco said in a statement: “By successfully operating the demonstration plant in the US, we aim to commercialize the DLE technology we have developed since 2016. We intend to leverage this technology for investment and commercialization of undeveloped lithium brine lakes across North America.”

The US has among the world’s largest lithium deposits, contained in large brine lakes, after Bolivia and Argentina.

Posco Holdings currently has an annual production capacity of 68,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide globally, enough for the production of approximately 1.6 million EV batteries, including 25,000 tons at its brine lithium processing plant in Argentina and 43,000 at its ore lithium plant in South Korea.