Ex-EcoPro chairman returns to guide battery strategy

Lee Dong-chae, former Chairman of EcoPro (center), discusses collaboration with GEM Chairman Heo Gae-hwa (right) and Vice Chairman Wang Min (left) at EcoPro headquarters. [Courtesy of EcoPro]

EcoPro is bringing back its former chairman, Lee Dong-chae, as a senior advisor to help steer the company through the battery market’s current challenges. The decision came after Lee’s recent return to management following his special pardon in August 2024. EcoPro, South Korea’s leading battery materials company, made the announcement after a board meeting on Monday when Lee was officially appointed to the role.

During a recent meeting with employees, Lee expressed concerns about the future of the battery industry, highlighting the difficulties ahead.

“I wondered why the battery market has reached this point, and I could not see a clear path forward. If we continue as we are, there is no future,” Lee said. He added that EcoPro itself could disappear in three to four years if it becomes complacent.

Lee’s comments come as the global battery market experiences a temporary slowdown, particularly in electric vehicle (EV) demand. The company’s board reportedly pushed for Lee’s return to help overcome the crisis and secure future growth.

One of Lee’s primary concerns is that Korea’s battery industry, which relies heavily on nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries, is losing ground to China’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. The latter has gained significant market share, pushing NCM batteries into a more limited market space.

Lee pointed to excessive investment and a failure to focus on the core competitiveness of manufacturing as key reasons for the current industry stagnation. To counter the crisis, he unveiled a plan to establish a strategic alliance with Chinese precursor manufacturer GEM. EcoPro BM, the company’s cathode material subsidiary, announced a partnership with GEM to develop an integrated ecosystem for cathode materials in Indonesia on Monday.

EcoPro Materials, the company’s subsidiary that specializes in precursor production, will acquire a stake in GEM’s nickel smelter in Indonesia, marking EcoPro’s formal entry into the smelting industry. This partnership aims to encompass the entire cathode material supply chain, from smelting to precursor and cathode material production, significantly reducing costs and potentially reshaping the pricing structure in the cathode materials market.