To Build 4th Battery Plant in China

An SK Innovation official shows the company's battery for electric vehicles.

SK Innovation outclassed Samsung SDI in the global electric vehicle battery usage from January to July 2021. LG Energy Solution remained second after China's CATL.

The total amount of batteries used by global electric vehicles from January to July 2021 reached 137.1GWh, up 143.6 percent from the same period of 2020, SNE Research said on Sept. 1. Electric vehicles include EVs, PHEVs and HEVs.

By company, CATL topped the list with a 30.0 percent market share, while LG Energy Solution took second place with 24.2 percent. While CATL's market share grew by 0.1 percentage point from January to June, LG Energy Solutions suffered a drop of 0.3 percentage points.

SK Innovation ramped up its market share from 5.2 percent to 5.4 percent, surpassing Samsung SDI for the first time. SNE Research said that increased sales of electric vehicles loaded with SK Innovation batteries, such as Kia's Niro EV, Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 and Kona Electric (Europe), contributed to the expansion of SK Innovation’s market share.

Samsung SDI fell to sixth place as its market share fell from 5.2 percent to 5.1 percent. Although sales of the Fiat 500, the Audi E-Tron EV, and the Seat Leon PHEV continued to grow, a sharp drop in Volkswagen e-Golf sales largely offset the market share expansion, SNE Research said.

The combined market share of the three Korean battery companies stood at 34.7 percent.

Japan's Panasonic ranked third with 14.3 percent, while China's BYD fourth with 7.3 percent.

In July 2021, CATL ranked first with 32.6 percent while LG Energy Solution ranked second with 22.5 percent. The two were followed by Panasonic (10.9 percent), BYD (9.3 percent), SK Innovation (5.9 percent) and Samsung SDI (4.4 percent).

Meanwhile, SK Innovation announced on Sept. 1 that it will invest US$1.06 billion in its subsidiary in China to build its fourth battery plant in China.

SK Innovation is currently operating battery plants in three places in China -- Changzhou (7GWh), Yancheng (10GWh), and Huizhou (10GWh). The Changzhou plant is a joint venture with BAIC while the Yancheng and Huizhou plants are joint ventures with Chinese battery manufacturer EVE. SK Innovation's fourth plant in China, to be built in Yancheng, will be operated as an independent corporation rather than a joint venture. The new plant is expected to have the largest production capacity among SK Innovation battery plants in China.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution