The South Korean battery cell manufacturer Samsung SDI and its South Korean supplier of battery materials EcoPro BM are investing the equivalent of around 88 million euros in a joint venture called EcoPro EM.

The joint venture is held by 40 percent from Samsung SDI and 60 percent from EcoPro BM. Both companies plan to endow the joint venture with 120 billion won. It is planned to start building a factory in the city of Pohang this year, which will produce cathode material for NCA cells from the 1st quarter of 2022.

As reported by the "Korea Herald", these are said to be NCA-811 cells, the cathode of which has a high nickel and a low cobalt content. The report does not contain any further information, for example on cell chemistry, the possible cell formats or the origin of the raw materials. In February , Samsung SDI signed a purchase agreement with Glencore to supply cobalt hydroxide. It is not known whether the Congo cobalt should also be used by EcoPro EM.

The planned production capacity of the new joint venture is also not mentioned. It says that EcoPro BM wants to increase its production capacities for cathode materials including the joint venture by 150,000 to 180,000 tons by 2023 - what share of the joint venture is, however, is open.

The Korean battery cell manufacturers have recently been able to increase their market shares significantly. In an evaluation published by SNE Research in April , the Koreans came to over 40 percent, with LG Chem (29.6 percent) being significantly larger than Samsung SDI (6.5 percent) and SK Innovation (5.9 percent).

koreaherald.com