Six K-battery equipment manufacturers win ‘jackpot’ with new overseas plant orders for SK On

Many domestic equipment manufacturers were selected to be suppliers for SK On's battery plants in Hungary and China. The order amount reaches KRW 1.5 trillion. The domestic companies are more likely to be selected to win orders for a new BlueOval SK plant, built jointly with SK On and Ford.

SK On has selected manufacturers that will supply the 30GWh battery production plants in Hungary and China. PNT, mPlus, and Yunsung F&C were selected for four core processes: electrode, assembly, and mixing processes, respectively. The remaining core process is a formation process, which is still in the process of selecting supplier.
 
Toptec was selected as the end of line (EOL) process company for the Hungary plant, and SFA Semiconductor and NS were selected for the degassing (gas removal) process in Hungary and China, respectively. Contrary to expectations, instead of selecting multiple companies for each process, SK On selected a single company. Companies from Europe and China were chosen for non-main process equipment. The amount of equipment orders for each plant for domestic companies is KRW 100 billion. Supplying both plants in Hungary and China, PNT, mPlus, and Yunsung F&C are expected to profit at least KRW 200 billion in sales.

<SK On announced on the 4th that SK On and Auto Silicon had jointly developed a battery monitoring integrated circuit (BMIC), a main component acts as the brain of a battery. Auto Silicon is a developer specializing in battery and electronic semiconductors. SK On confirmed that it has relied on imports of all its battery management chips; however, this jointly developed BMIC allows SK On to experience import substitution and appreciate supply chain stabilization. The photo shows the BMIC developed by SK On.>

SK On will complete the contract for selecting processes and equipment companies within this month, and begin operating the plants within this year. New plants will be built in Ivansca, Hungary (plant 3) and Yancheng, China (plant 4) with an annual capacity of 30GWh. Both plants combined capacity is 60GWh, which is the largest facility ever for a single order. The the process equipment placed in the plants reaches KRW 1.5 trillion.
 
Currently operating battery plants of SK On are in South Korea (Seosan), the United States (Georgia), China (Changzhou, etc.), and Hungary (Komarom). SK On revealed that is will become a global battery company by reaching the total production capacity of the joint venture and independent production subsidiaries to 220GWh by 2025, and 500GWh by 2030.

By Staff Reporter Tae-jun Park (gaius@etnews.com)