A New Record of KRW 3T Investment in 2023 - LG Chemical & Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Consortium invests KRW 1.2T
- Construction of metal sulfates & battery precursor production plant creates 700 new jobs
- SMG National Industrial Complex as a Hub of Global Secondary Battery
- Investment contract worth KRW 3T ($2.2B) this year, the largest-ever
LG Chemical Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd. signed an investment MOU with Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency (SDIA, Administrator Kim Gyu Hyeon) to construct their secondary battery material manufacturing plant, investing KRW 1.2 trillion ($897.9M) in Saemangeum National Industrial Complex on April 19. Jeolabuk do, Gunsan City, and Korea Rural Community Corporation co-signed the MOU.
Kim Gyu-Hyeon (Administrator of SDIA), Shin Hak-Chul (CEO of LG Chemical), Xu Wei (vice president of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd.), Kim Kwan-young (Governor of Jeonbuk Province), Kang Im-joon (Mayor of Gunsan City), Lee Byung-ho (CEO of Korea Rural Community Corporation), and three National Assembly members attended the signing ceremony.
LG Chemical and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt are setting up a new corporation and investing KRW 1.2 trillion ($897.9M) in two phases by 2028. They will construct a plant at Lot 6 (338,00 ㎡) of Saemangeum Industrial Complex this year, hiring 700 new employees.
LG Chemical Co., Ltd., one of Korea’s leading global entrepreneurs, established in 1947, has its affiliates of petrochemical, high-tech materials, life science, and LG Energy Solution.
Founded in 2002, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd. - China’s largest cobalt producer - has adopted a strategy of vertical integration to enhance its business of battery core materials from mineral mining to precursor material production.
The “Secondary battery cathode material (metal sulfates, precursors)”
manufacturing plant, being built in Saemangeum by LG Chemical - 3 - Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang
Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd, is to actively respond to changes in the global supply chain* through stable precursor** production.
* Production of precursor (in Saemangeum) → Production of anode material (LG BCM) → Production of battery (LG Energy Solutions, etc.)
** As the intermediate stage of the cathode material, it determines the performance of battery and is made by combining refined metal sulfate - nickle, cobalt, manganese, etc.
LG Chemical is investing in Saemangeum, highly evaluating excellent infrastructure of large-scale sites, port, airport, roads, and especially enough utility supply – electric power, water, gas, and steam etc.
“Saemangeum is becoming a global hub of secondary battery industry”, said Kim Gyu-Hyeon, Administrator of SDIA. “We welcome LG Chemical and Zhejing Huayou Cobalt Co. Ltd. starting their business in Saemangeum. SDIA will endeavor to support secondary battery industry and entrepreneurs in Saemangeum.”
“With the precursor production plant in Saemangeum, LG Chemical is enhancing a strategy of vertical integration and establishing a stable material supply chain of cathode materials.” said Shin Hak-chul, the vice chair of LG Chemical.
Nine entrepreneurs (KRW3.17T), including LG Chemical and Zhejinag Huayou Co. Ltd., are investing in Saemangeum this year.
In particular, 26 entrepreneurs (KRW4.625T) have invested in Saemangeum since the inauguration of the current government (in May, 2022), in less than a year. This remarkable achievement is more than the total investment (29 entrepreneurs, KRW1.23T) over the past nine years (2013~2021) since SDIA opened.
SDIA says that a large-scale investment comparable to this LG Chemical investment is scheduled to be executed in Saemangeum and a new investment record is going to be set.