[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Battery company SK On, precursor company Eco Materials and Chinese precursor company GEM will build precursor production facilities at Saemangeum National Industrial Complex.
According to the Saemangeum Development Agency on the 23rd, SK On, Eco Materials and GEM have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the establishment of a three-way joint venture 'GM Korea New Energy Materials' at SK Seorin Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Under the investment agreement, the three companies will invest up to 1.21 trillion won to build a precursor plant with an annual output of about 100,000 tons at the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex. The plant will begin construction in June and aims to operate the first plant in 2025 and the second plant in 2027. More than 1,100 new workers are expected to be employed at the plant.
Electrosphere is a key raw material that accounts for more than 65 to 70% of the battery's core cathode material cost and is a compound mixed with raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and manganese. The electric sphere of 100,000 tons is the amount that can produce the anode materials needed for 600,000 electric vehicles (based on 105KWh per unit).
The precursor produced at the Saemangeum plant will use nickel intermediate materials (MHP) produced by three separate joint ventures in Indonesia as raw materials. The three companies signed an agreement to establish a MHP production corporation in November last year and announced plans to mass-produce MHPs equivalent to about 30,000 tons of pure nickel annually from the third quarter of 2024.
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