Supply expansion due to EV battery boom
Doubled in the new year... Forecast of 1 trillion KRW in sales
Possible to beat GTHR from China and take the 3rd place
Enchem, a domestic secondary battery material company, is expected to enter the top 3 in the global electrolyte industry in the new year. Enchem is a company specializing in electrolytes that supplies to LG Energy Solution and SK on, and others. Due to the super boom in EV batteries, the birth of a global material company from Korea has been predicted.
On the 27th, according to a market research firm Yano Research Institute, Enchem is expected to achieve 1 trillion KRW in sales in the global electrolyte market, doubling from this year in the new year. Accordingly, Enchem is expected to overtake Chinese electrolyte company Guotai Huarong (GTHR, 700 billion KRW) in the new year. It is analyzed that they will be the third place in the world after Tinci(2 trillion KRW) and Capchem from China(around 1 trillion KRW).
It is the first time for Enchem to be listed among the top three global companies in the global electrolyte market. Enchem ranked 4ththis year, following Tinci, Capchem, and GTHR. Electrolyte is a key material that acts as a medium for the movement of lithium ions in a battery.
Enchem supplies electrolytes from a total of seven factories including Korea, Hungary, and China, and posted cumulative sales of 369.2 billion KRW in the third quarter of this year. They already exceeded last year's annual performance (214.3 billion KRW). European supply to major customers such as LG Energy Solution and SK on has increased. This is due to the expansion of battery factories in Poland and Hungary by LG Energy Solution and SK on. European shipments are increasing, and the US plant, which started operation in October, is also expected to grow as it seeks to increase its utilization rate starting in the new year. Jung-kang Oh, CEO of Enchem, said, "We plan to increase investment for new supply of electrolyte in response to the increase in global EV battery demand from domestic and foreign battery customers."
Enchem plans to expand the supply of electrolyte to LG Energy Solution and SK on EV battery joint ventures in the US. Accordingly, they are preparing to build five factories in Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Georgia. The Georgia plant plans to expand its production capacity up to 140,000 tons due to an increase in EV battery supplies. They are also seeking to supply electrolytes to local battery makers in the US.
In addition, they are also focusing on targeting the Chinese market. Enchem, which currently supplies electrolytes to China's top three battery makers, including CATL, SVOLT, and GUOXUAN, built a joint venture with a local company last year to meet Chinese demand. They planto build an additional factory in China to secure a total of four factories.
An official from Enchem said, “We will further solidify partnerships with global battery makers by utilizing domestic and overseas electrolyte production bases.”
By staff reporter Ji-woong Kim (jw0316@etnews.com)