Shares of Cellumed are rising on news that BYD is planning to establish an electric vehicle battery factory in South Korea. This is interpreted as highlighting their battery-related partnership.
As of 1:13 PM on the 24th, Cellumed was trading at 3,800 KRW, up 200 KRW (5.56%) from the previous trading day.
According to foreign media on the 23rd (local time), KG Mobility is pushing forward with plans to establish a factory with BYD aiming for mass production of electric vehicle batteries by January 2025.
This is the first time a Chinese battery company is building a factory domestically in collaboration with a Korean automaker. Accordingly, the industry expects that if BYD succeeds in entering the Korean market, it will secure a customer base for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries and achieve the “two birds with one stone” of bypassing the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
If BYD uses South Korea as a production base, it will be possible to circumvent the US IRA. To qualify for IRA subsidies, raw materials must be sourced from countries that have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
Meanwhile, Cellumed signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with BYD in December last year to cooperate on secondary battery swappable batteries and electric two-wheelers, establishing a close partnership.
Subsequently, they signed a main contract with BYD for product development and exclusive supply of electric two-wheelers and swappable battery packs. The company described it as “a meaningful contract securing global exclusive sales rights.”
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