POSCO Future M and Hyundai Motor Group signed a letter of intent on 3 November under which Hyundai is considering an equity investment of 100 billion won (around 75.4 million US dollars) in POSCO Future M’s Vietnam project. The automaker aims to secure priority access to synthetic graphite produced at the site.
Both companies also intend to collaborate on the development and quality evaluation of the material, which can be extracted through mining or created through a very energy-intensive process for synthetic graphite. The goal between Posco and Hyundai is to adapt synthetic graphite anode materials to the requirements of future battery-electric vehicles.
This cooperation builds on an existing partnership between the two groups. In April 2025, Posco Group and Hyundai Motor Group signed a letter of intent to collaborate on steel and battery materials.
POSCO and Hyundai are also already working together on other key materials for electric vehicles. In July 2026, both companies and other project partners launched a research project for high-silicon electrical steel, aimed at improving the efficiency of electric motors. The now-planned cooperation on synthetic graphite thus extends their collaboration to another critical area of the electric vehicle value chain.
POSCO plans production in Vietnam from 2028
POSCO Future M is currently constructing a synthetic graphite factory in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. According to the company, it is investing approximately 357 billion won in the plant. Series production is scheduled to begin in 2028.
For the first phase of expansion, POSCO Future M states that it has already secured customer orders. In parallel, the company is now preparing for the second investment phase, in which Hyundai could participate through the planned stake.
Synthetic graphite is used as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries. POSCO Future M highlights its potential for high charging power and long battery life in particular. At the same time, the material is gaining strategic importance as automotive and battery manufacturers seek to further diversify their graphite supply chains, most of which, for both natural and synthetic graphite, are concentrated in China. POSCO Future M is working to cover the entire value chain for both natural and synthetic graphite, from raw materials and intermediate products to finished anode materials.
To this end, the company has concluded several long-term supply agreements in recent years. In July 2025, POSCO Future M agreed to supply natural graphite anode material to a major Japanese battery manufacturer. In October 2025, this was followed by another contract for natural graphite worth 671 billion won. In March 2026, the company also signed a contract for synthetic graphite anode material worth around 1.015 trillion won with an unnamed global automaker.
The Vietnam project is intended to further expand this strategy. For Hyundai, the participation could provide additional access to a strategically important battery raw material outside existing supply chains.
