Ecopro Invests in Four Nickel Smelters in Indonesia: "Overcoming the Cathode Material Slump"

Annual Profit of 18 Billion Won Expected by 2030
Diversifying Portfolio to Overcome Market Slump
Second Phase of Investment Follows Initial Commitment
Cathode Material Prices to Drop by Up to 30%

EcoPro announced on September 18 that it has completed the first-phase investment totaling 700 billion won in four nickel smelters in Indonesia. Through this, the company expects to secure a stable supply of nickel raw materials and generate annual investment profits of 18 billion won by 2030. EcoPro’s investment in Indonesia, which marks its entry into the smelting industry, is expected to diversify the group’s portfolio and serve as a supplement to overcome the downturn in the secondary battery cathode materials sector.

EcoPro will proceed with a second-phase investment following the first. The company plans to actively pursue the construction of additional nickel smelters and an integrated cathode material production line, aiming to reduce cathode material prices by about 20-30% compared to current levels and achieve disruptive innovation in the pricing of Korean NCM battery materials.

Since 2022, EcoPro has invested in equity stakes in four smelters-QMB (9%), Meiming (9%), ESG (10%), and Green Eco Nickel (38%)-located within the IMIP (Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park) on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Through these investments, EcoPro has secured a stable supply of MHP (Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate), an intermediate nickel product. MHP is less expensive than nickel metal and contains cobalt, which is essential for producing NCM precursors. EcoPro is expected to secure about 28,500 tons of nickel MHP annually in Indonesia, which is sufficient for approximately 600,000 electric vehicles.

Starting at the end of this year, EcoPro will also actively pursue the second-phase IGIP (International Green Industrial Park) project in Indonesia. The IGIP project, located in Sambalagi, Sulawesi, will be carried out through a joint venture with Indonesian state-owned and global companies. The plan is to build an integrated industrial complex where everything from raw material smelting to precursor, cathode material, and battery cell production takes place in one location.

As a first step to solidify its nickel smelting business, EcoPro will begin investing in a nickel smelter within the industrial park by the end of this year. The company plans to invest about 50 billion won in the joint venture, securing approximately a 20% stake in the smelter JV. Once completed, the smelter is expected to produce about 66,000 tons of nickel MHP annually.

EcoPro is also planning additional investments in smelters of similar scale. From the additional investments onward, EcoPro will take the lead as the largest shareholder, driving the project and the development of the industrial park in partnership with global companies. After investing in the smelters, the company will sequentially establish precursor, cathode material, and battery cell plants within the industrial park.

Through local integrated production, EcoPro aims to secure nickel raw materials at lower costs and reduce logistics and processing expenses, thereby dramatically lowering the unit cost of high-nickel NCM cathode materials and increasing production efficiency. The strategy is to secure price competitiveness in the mid- to low-priced cathode material market in the future.