Korean aluminum maker to raise output to meet demand for EVs

The Chief Executive Officer of Dong Il Aluminium Co. Park Chan Gyu [Photo by MK DB]

Dong Il Aluminium Co., an aluminum manufacturing subsidiary of DI Dong Il Corp., has ramped up its production capacity to advance into the global electric vehicle (EV) battery markets, such as the U.S. and Europe, with the aim of supplying its products to local EV battery makers.

“Demand for the high quality of aluminum foil has explosively grown as EV makers have been in a hurry to obtain batteries with both higher safety and energy density to offer longer driving ranges,” Park Chan Gyu, the chief executive officer of Dong Il Aluminium said in his interview with the Maeil Business Newspaper. “We aim to post 1 trillion won in sales by 2030 by doubling the production capacity with large-scale investment in the facility.”

Founded in 1989, Dong Il Aluminium specializes in producing aluminum, one of the critical materials in various sectors ranging from foods to automobiles. Its main products include packaging materials for foods and medicines, aluminum foil designed for refrigeration and air conditioning, and aluminum used for anode collectors and pouches of batteries.

Dong Il Aluminium has focused on aluminum foil for batteries in its roadmap for further growth. Aluminum foil, a thin metal material, is designed to function as a tunnel through which electrons pass through a cell.

Dong Il Aluminium is now supplying its products to South Korea’s top battery makers - LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK on Co. “Thinner aluminum foil help to make batteries lighter and highly capable, and we have a competitive edge in surface uniformity that measures the energy density and reliability in the foil,” Park said.

Dong Il Aluminium has continued production ramp-ups to meet the growing demand for batteries. After starting operations of the fifth rolling mill in Cheonan in March, it has recently finalized an investment worth 220 billion won ($164.89 million) in building production and infrastructure in Cheongju, south of Seoul. It will add three rolling mills to the Cheongju plant by 2025. The expansion in production capacity to eight rolling mills from the current five will make the company the largest aluminum foil manufacturer in Korea. Each rolling mill can produce aluminum foil enough for 350,000 units of EVs a year.

“The anode foil for batteries is defined as qualifying battery components under the latest Inflation Reduction Act clauses, which means free from export restrictions,” said Park. “Since the review of a draft of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) suggest no potential challenge associated with the act, so we expect to be able to supply aluminum foil to the U.S. and European battery makers as soon as 2026.”

Meanwhile, Dong Il Aluminium is seeking to diversify its product portfolio of battery. As aluminum is also used in manufacturing cases for batteries, the company plans to develop technology for materials used in battery cases.