LG Chem expands production of electric car batteries in Polish plant

By Lim Chang-won Posted : November 29, 2018, 09:47 Updated : November 29, 2018, 18:00

[Courtesy of LG Chem]


SEOUL -- LG Chem has disclosed an extra injection of cash into its plant in Poland to expand production in the latest of a series of preemptive investments by South Korean car battery makers to maintain their global leadership.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, LG Chem said it would invest 651 billion won ($579 million) in LG Chem Wroclaw Energy, a Polish subsidiary, to increase production. The investment comes amid growing competition among European carmakers to release a raft of new electric vehicles.

LG Chem, a key unit of South Korea's LG Group, has battery plants in South Korea, Europe, China and North America. On October 23, the company started the construction of its second battery plant in Nanjing, China.

This month, LG Chem joined hands with two domestic rivals, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation (SKI), to develop key technologies for next-generation batteries and create a fund for joint research. Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo said that the alliance would help South Korean companies thwart "patent attacks" by foreign companies.

Two days ago, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group approved the acquisition of shares worth about 270 billion won in China's Wason, which produces copper foil anodes, an important component of lithium-ion batteries. SKI will invest 1.14 trillion won to build a battery plant in Commerce, a city in Jackson County, Georgia.

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said in a ceremony to open the Washington office of SK hynix that the total investment in the construction of a U.S. battery plant would be $1.6 billion. "But within five years and if the market allows us, then we can expand (SKI's investment to) $5 billion and hire more than 6,000 employees there."

Samsung SDI plans to expand production in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and build a $62.7 million battery pack manufacturing facility. The Michigan Strategic Fund has approved $10 million in aid to the project, along with a tax benefit by the City of Auburn Hills.
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