[Courtesy of Samsung SDI]
South Korea's Samsung SDI said Tuesday it would invest about 358 million US dollars to build a cell battery plant in Hungary as part of its aggressive push to boost capacity in response to surging global demand for electric vehicles.
Samsung SDI, the sister firm of tech giant Samsung Electronics, said it would spend 400 billion won ($358 million) on converting its former cathode ray tube plant near Budapest into a plant capable of producing lithium ion batteries for 50,000 electric vehicles a year.
Samsung aims to use the battery plant in Hungary as its production base in Europe, citing its geographical proximity to European countries. Production would begin in the second half of 2018. The company wound up its Jaszfenyszaru factory in Hungary in 2014 due to falling demand.
Samsung SDI currently has EV battery plants in South Korea and China. In July, Samsung Electronics agreed to buy new shares worth three billion yuan (450 million US dollars) in China's electric vehicle and battery maker, BYD.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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Park Sae-jin
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