SK Nexilis to Supply Northvolt with 1.4 Trillion KRW Worth of Copper Foil Over 5 Years

Starting Operations at Poland Factory from 2024
Electric Vehicles Scale of 1.7 Million Units

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] SK Nexilis, an investor in SKC's copper foil business for secondary batteries, has signed a large-scale mid- to long-term supply contract with Northvolt, the largest secondary battery manufacturer in Europe.

On the 17th (local time), SK Nexilis signed a contract at Northvolt's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, to supply copper foil for secondary batteries produced at SK Nexilis' Stalowa Wola plant in Poland to Northvolt for five years starting in 2024.

The contract volume accounts for about 80% of Northvolt's copper foil demand during this period. The contract is worth up to 1.4 trillion KRW and can be used for 1.7 million electric vehicles. SK Nexilis will operate its Poland plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons starting in 2024.

Key officials from both companies attended the contract signing ceremony, including Kim Jung-kyu, Head of Marketing at SK Nexilis, and Paolo Cerruti, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Northvolt. Both parties agreed to strengthen their mid- to long-term cooperative relationship based on this contract.

Northvolt is the strongest local European manufacturer in the global battery market dominated by Korean, Chinese, and Japanese companies. It has secured investments exceeding 1 trillion KRW from European automakers such as Volkswagen and Volvo and is promoting the construction of a large-scale local production plant with a total capacity of about 150 GWh. Through this contract with SK Nexilis, Northvolt can stably and environmentally secure copper foil, a core material for secondary batteries, enabling mass production of batteries.

Kim Jung-kyu, Head of Marketing at SK Nexilis (right), and Paolo Cerutti, Chief Operating Officer of Northvolt, are signing a contract at Northvolt headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by SK Nexilis

Market research firm SNE Research forecasted that the global copper foil market for secondary batteries will grow from 270,000 tons in 2021 to 750,000 tons by 2025, with an average annual growth rate of over 40%. In particular, wide copper foil (over 1 meter in width), which can significantly improve secondary battery productivity, is expected to face supply shortages compared to demand starting next year, intensifying the race for market dominance. While new facilities of global top-tier battery manufacturers are being built with processes applying wide copper foil, most copper foil producers have only 30-50% of their production capacity dedicated to wide copper foil.

SK Nexilis produces over 90% of its products as wide copper foil based on overwhelming technological capabilities. Along with its dominant wide copper foil production ratio, its excellent price competitiveness of high-strength products is also considered a strength. This technological capability and price competitiveness are the reasons Northvolt chose SK Nexilis as its mid- to long-term copper foil supplier. In addition to Poland, SK Nexilis plans to complete its Malaysia plant by the end of this year and has started investing in the North American region, establishing a system to promptly respond to battery manufacturers' demands in each region.

An SK Nexilis official said, “SK Nexilis is currently negotiating additional mid- to long-term contracts with multiple global top-tier battery customers,” adding, “We plan to announce the results soon.”