SK Innovation to build a new battery plant in China
The South Korean battery manufacturer SK Innovation has announced a new battery cell production plant in China. The company plans to invest 1.2 trillion won (about 900 million euros) in the plant.
SK Innovation did not provide further details about the new plant, such as the location or the planned annual production capacity, in the announcement. The investment is – unsurprisingly – justified by the global carmakers’ switch to battery-electric vehicles. SKI supplies its cells to Ford, Volkswagen and Hyundai, among others.
SK Innovation is currently the sixth largest battery cell manufacturer and currently has around 40 GWh of production capacity with plants in South Korea, China, the USA and Hungary. By 2023, the capacity is to increase to 85 GWh, and by 2025 to 200 GWh. By 2030, SK Innovation wants to be able to produce 500 GWh.
At the beginning of August, SK Innovation announced its intention to spin off its battery business on 1 October. However, the general meeting of the listed company still has to approve the foundation of the new subsidiary SK Battery in mid-September. The plans were not well received on the stock market when they were announced. With batteries now the company’s core business, investors fear that the spin-off could negatively affect the company’s overall value in the long run.
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