POSCO Future M said Thursday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Molten on March 11 to produce anode materials using natural graphite made from methane gas. The partnership between the Korean battery materials firm and the U.S. graphite producer aims to reduce reliance on graphite extracted from mines. Under the agreement, Molten will produce graphite through pyrolysis of methane gas — a chemical process that decomposes organic materials with heat. POSCO Future M will then process Molten’s graphite into spherical form at its subsidiary, Future Graph, and send the spheres to its Sejong plant to produce anode materials. The company explained that graphite produced with methane gas contains fewer metallic impurities than mined graphite, allowing for a shorter refining process and significantly lower production costs for anode materials. The Korean firm will also be able to supply POSCO with hydrogen generated from pyrolysis, enabling the steelmaker to advance its hydrogen reduction ironmaking (HyREX) process. HyREX is a method of using hydrogen to convert fine iron ore into dir