An illustration of POSCO International's traction motor core plant which will be built in Poland / Courtesy of POSCO International

The incoming CEO of POSCO International allowed the global expansion of the company's traction motor core business as an incumbent board member, the trading and energy affiliate of POSCO Group said Monday.

During a board meeting last Friday, POSCO International gave approvals for the construction of a new traction motor core plant in Poland and its second Mexican factory to produce the key component for electric vehicles. The decision was made two days after Lee Kye-in, the chief officer of POSCO International's global business unit, was nominated as the company's next CEO. He will be officially appointed after the general meeting of shareholders in March.

Once the construction of the two factories is finished, POSCO International will have traction motor core plants in five countries, including Korea, China and India, which will have a combined annual production capacity of 7 million units in 2030. The company seeks to occupy 10 percent of the global traction motor core market by then.

"The construction of the new Polish plant, which will begin in June on a 100,000-square-meter site, will be completed in May 2025," POSCO International said. "In 2030, the factory's annual production capacity will reach 1.2 million units."

The second Mexican plant, which will play a major role in supplying 2.72 million traction motor cores to Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America and responding to requests from North American clients, will be under construction in May.

Once the factory's construction is finished in March next year, POSCO International's two traction motor core plants in Mexico will increase their output gradually, so that they can supply 2.5 million units annually in 2030.