Battery companies see decline in factory operation rates

[Courtesy of LG Energy Solution]

South Korean battery companies are seeing a decline in their factory operation rates.

According to quarterly reports from each battery company on Wednesday, LG Energy Solution Ltd., the world’s second-largest battery maker for electric vehicles, reported that its operation rate for the first quarter of 2024 was only 57.4 percent, down from 73.6 percent in 2022 and 69.3 percent in 2023. The company’s Wrocław plant in Poland reportedly recorded an operation rate in the 30 percent range.

LG Energy Solution has been adjusting the Polish factory’s operation rate since the fourth quarter of 2023 due to competition from Chinese firms and the economic downturn.

“The European factories are currently not able to raise their operation rates to normal levels,” LG Energy Solution Chief Financial Officer Lee Chang-sil said.

For its part, SK on Co.‘s operation rate for the first quarter of 2024 was 69.5 percent, down from 86.8 percent in 2022 and 87.7 percent in 2023. But it is worth noting that each company calculated its operation rates differently.