EcoPro to inject W1.2tr in Pohang battery hub

Expansion work is underway at EcoPro's Pohang campus in North Gyeongsang Province. (EcoPro)

South Korean battery materials maker EcoPro said Sunday it would invest 1.2 trillion won ($910 million) in its Pohang campus in North Gyeongsang Province this year to expand its comprehensive secondary battery supply chain, which covers everything from producing key components to recycling.

The company plans to allocate 690 billion won to expanding its precursor plant, with additional funds directed toward increasing production of anode material at 32 billion won, lithium hydroxide production facilities at 160 billion won, and industrial gas production at 10 billion won, totaling an investment of around 1.2 trillion won for the year.

In the first half of the year, EcoPro aims to complete two key projects: the high-nickel cathode material production plant, CAM8, by EcoPro EM, and the lithium hydroxide production plant, LHM2, by EcoPro Innovation.

The investment will fund the construction of EcoPro Materials' Cathode Production Manufacturing and Reaction Mixture Preparation 3 and 4 plants, focusing on precursor and sulfurization processes. These processes turn nickel, cobalt, and manganese into precursors necessary for battery production.

Upon completing Pohang Campus 4, the site will evolve into a prominent industrial complex for secondary battery production, with capacities to produce 270,000 tons of anode materials, 110,000 tons of precursors, and 26,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually. The output of anode materials alone could supply about 3 million electric vehicles.

Since its inception in 2020, the Pohang Campus has seen a total investment of $5.5 trillion. It houses various EcoPro subsidiaries, each focusing on different segments of the battery production process, including anode and precursor materials, lithium hydroxide, waste battery recycling, and gas production.

By Moon Joon-hyun(mjh@heraldcorp.com)