EV Advanced Materials announced on the 22nd that it has secured 40 tons of battery-grade "Lithium Hydroxide," which has been recently rising in price, from Chinese company E in collaboration with domestic company A, and plans to supply it to domestic companies C and E.
EV Advanced Materials has continuously promoted battery-related businesses as part of its new growth engine projects. In the fourth quarter of last year, it supplied "Lithium Carbonate" to Hydro Lithium, and in March, it supplied "Lithium Hydroxide" to domestic company C. It expects to steadily expand supply even after the secured Lithium Hydroxide quantity planned for domestic supply this time.
Additionally, in April, it signed a supply contract for high-purity copper, "Electrolytic Copper Cathode," with domestic company D and is currently conducting pilot shipments. The company aims to increase the volume through future consultations and supply regularly.
Based on strategic decisions regarding new businesses, EV Advanced Materials invested 10.1 billion KRW in July 2021 in "Prologium," a global leader in the solid-state battery field. In June last year, it invested 5 billion KRW in "Lithium Plus," a lithium material company with outstanding technology, and recently received 2.5 billion KRW back through Lithium Plus's call option exercise.
Prologium recently chose France as the location for its solid-state battery factory in Europe, and on the 13th, President Macron and Prologium CEO Vincent Yang met in Dunkirk to jointly announce plans for the gigafactory establishment.
The Prologium solid-state battery factory to be built in Dunkirk, northern France, which is emerging as a European electric vehicle battery cluster, will involve an investment of 5.2 billion euros (approximately 7.5 trillion KRW). It is scheduled to start operations in 2026 and aims to secure a production capacity of 60 GWh by 2031, capable of supplying batteries for about 750,000 vehicles annually.
As the electric vehicle market grows rapidly, the demand for batteries is surging, intensifying the competition to secure lithium, a key mineral for electric vehicle batteries.
Lithium is a core material of cathode active materials that determines battery capacity, lifespan, and stability. Lithium Hydroxide, with its high energy density, is mainly used in high-nickel ternary electric vehicle batteries that require high density and high capacity.
An EV Advanced Materials official stated, "In line with the growth of the electric vehicle industry, we are actively expanding the FPCB business for electric vehicles as well as investing in and advancing secondary battery-related businesses. In 2023, we will focus on improving sales and profitability while establishing a stable growth foundation for new businesses."
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