[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] SKC has decided to set up a copper foil joint plant in North America with Toyota Motor Group in Japan.

The strategy is to preoccupy the U.S. electric vehicle and battery-related materials market, which is expected to explode through this.

SK Nexilis, a subsidiary of SKC, announced on the 31st that it has signed a business agreement with Toyota Tsusho, a Toyota Group subsidiary, to review the establishment of a joint venture in the North American market.

SKC President Park Won-chul, SK Nexilis President Lee Jae-hong and Toyota Tsusho President Ichiro Kasitani attended the signing ceremony on the 28th. Copper foil is a key material needed to manufacture cathode materials, one of the four battery materials. Toyota Trade is also expanding its battery raw material business, including lithium, and is expected to receive copper, a raw material for copper foil, smoothly.

The two companies plan to target North American customers through North American copper foil production plants. Competition for global copper foil production is heating up with the addition of Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese companies, but copper foil production in North America is less than 1,000 tons per year. This is why the supply of copper foil is expected to be insufficient in the local market.

SK Nexilis is discussing the construction of a joint factory with the aim of completing it by 2025. The production target is known to be over 50,000 tons per year. Toyota Tsusho and Toyota Motors are expected to supply large-scale copper foil to US battery manufacturing plants (up to 40GWh per year) scheduled to operate in 2025.

SK Nexilis plans to deliver copper foil to battery plants of companies other than Toyota. Currently, it supplies products to LG Energy Solutions, Samsung SDI, SK On and Panasonic, so the North American plant of these companies is also considered a potential customer.

 

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