Citibank Korea provides $412 mn to POSCO for Argentine business

Citibank Korea signed on Jan. 25 a financial contract with POSCO Argentina, a subsidiary of South Korea's steel and secondary battery raw material giant Posco Group, to support the development of a lithium salt lake in Argentina.

The bank said on Feb. 3 that in partnership with the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KSURE), it provided a $412-million syndicated loan for the project.

POSCO Group's holding company POSCO Holdings Inc. aims to develop a large salt flat in Salta, Argentina, and build a plant capable of producing 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually by 2024.

According to Kim Kyung-ho, Vice President of Citibank Korea Corporate Finance Group, the financial support from Citibank Korea and KSURE is significant as it would enhance the competitiveness of the eco-friendly materials industry by helping them secure stable supply chains for key raw materials and establish secondary battery value chains.

Write to Sang-Yong Park at yourpencil@hankyung.com