EcoPro & Samsung SDI sign cathode materials deal worth over 30 billion euros
EcoPro, a company based in Cheongju, South Korea, signed a contract with Samsung SDI at the end of last week for the supply of cathode active materials worth 43.8 trillion won (equivalent to 30.9 billion euros).
The supply agreement is valid from 2024 to 2028, according to a company report published after the close of trading in Seoul. Since further details have not been revealed, the volume of the agreed delivery is still unclear. The EcoPro cathode for Samsung is based on a nickel-cobalt-aluminium chemistry (NCA) and is to be used for batteries with high nickel content.
The cathodes from EcoPro are supplied to Samsung SDI plants worldwide. Samsung is planning two battery factories with Stellantis in Kokomo in the US state of Indiana (a third US production facility could be added). A battery cell plant in Hungary is already in operation.
For its part, Ecopro is aiming to produce 710,000 tons of cathodes by 2027, 180,000 tons of which will be produced in South Korea alone. The company is currently building a plant in Hungary and another in Canada with SK On and Ford.
Construction of the Ecopro plant in Debrecen, Hungary, began in April 2023. EcoPro said its new plant would produce 108,000 tons of cathode materials for electric car batteries per year and employ 631 people. EcoPro BM will supply the cathode materials produced there to Samsung SDI’s battery factory in Göd near Budapest, Hungary, a deal that was already agreed upon in spring this year. The 108,000 tons of cathode material will be used to produce batteries for 1.35 million electric cars.
Samsung SDI and EcoPro BM already established a joint venture for cathode materials in 2020.
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