LG Chem starts construction of second electric car battery plant in China

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 23, 2018, 15:11 Updated : October 23, 2018, 15:11

[LG Chem]



SEOUL --  LG Chem, a South Korean producer of electric car batteries, started the construction of its second battery plant in China this week in an effort to increase its manufacturing capacity to meet the demands of the rapidly growing global electric vehicle market.

LG Chem said in a statement Tuesday that it held a groundbreaking ceremony event for its second battery plant in Nanjing some 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Beijing.

"With new technology and facilities in our second plant in Nanjing, we will firm our position as the world's leading factory capable of meeting the demands of the rapidly growing market," LG Chem CEO Park Jin-soo was quoted as saying.

LG Chem said the company would gradually invest a total of 2.1 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to produce more than 500,000 high-performance batteries annually by 2023 at its second Nanjing plant which will start production at the end of next year.

The new battery plant is about 45 kilometers away from its first Nanjing battery plant and about 180 kilometers away from a factory jointly operated by LG Chem and Huayou Cobalt, a major cobalt supplier in China, to produce key materials for lithium-ion batteries.

LG Chem has five battery plants in South Korea, Europe, China and North America. The battery maker plans to expand its combined annual capacity to 1.5 million electric car batteries by 2020.
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기