As part of its push to further secure long-term battery material supplies, South Korea’s LG Chem has announced that it has agreed to set up two new joint ventures with China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.
The two new joint ventures will represent a further extension of LG Chem’s already substantial operations in China — ahead of what’s expected to be further rapid growth in the country’s plug-in electric vehicle sector over the coming decade.
As a reminder here, LG Chem is currently one of the largest suppliers of plug-in electric vehicle battery cells in the world, and also one of the largest producers of lithium-ion battery cells for stationary battery-based energy storage systems.
That being the case, if the company wants to maintain market share in the sector, it will need to lock in as many battery minerals and materials supply contracts as possible over the coming years — as the competition will be increasingly serious.
Reuters provides a bit more information: “The plan comes as South Korean companies step up efforts to secure battery metals including cobalt to meet rising demand for electric vehicles. Huayou Cobalt confirmed the arrangements.
“Under the deal, LG Chem said it would raise a total of 239.4 billion won ($224.8 million) by 2020 to set up precursor and cathode joint ventures in China. The joint ventures are expected to start producing 40,000 tonnes a year of precursors and cathodes from 2020, the South Korean battery maker said in the statement. LG Chem said it plans to use precursor and cathode materials produced from the joint ventures for its battery plants in China and Poland.”
Interesting plans. LG Chem certainly appears to be leaving much of its competition behind in recent times. That considered, and on a related note, I’ll direct you to this article here: India’s Mahindra Partners With LG Chem For EV Batteries.
Also worth reading on this topic are these cobalt articles:
Nope, Cobalt’s Not A Problem For The EV Revolution, Or Tesla (#CleanTechnica Exclusive)
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