POSCO, South Korea’s leading steelmaker, said Monday that its chemical unit broke ground for a plant that will produce so-called “needle coke,” a special type of coke used in making LEDs, solar cells, secondary batteries and electrodes.

Needle coke, produced from coal tar pitch, has excellent properties such as a low coefficient of thermal expansion and low electric resistance, according to POSCO.

In 2011, POSCO ChemTech Co. set up a joint venture with two Japanese firms such as Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. in South Korea to produce needle coke. The POSCO unit holds a 60 percent stake in the joint venture.

POSCO said earlier the plant in Gwangyang, 423 kilometers south of Seoul, will produce and sell 100,000 tons of needle coke a year when construction is completed next year. POSCO did not elaborate on how much money will be spent on the plant construction. (Yonhap News)