SMM: according to reports, SKI plans to sell 10% of its lithium battery separator subsidiary SK IE Technology Co. (SK IET), which is in the process of IPO, worth 300 billion won (1.75 billion yuan) to private equity fund Premier Partners, plans to use the proceeds of the stake sale to expand its power battery business.

Recently, SKI has sold its business frequently, after SKI transferred its subsidiary lube base oil supplier SK Lubricants Co. in early August. Sold to expand its power battery business.

The reason behind SKI's eagerness to expand battery capacity is that the global new energy vehicle market continues to grow and the demand for power batteries is strong, and SKI's power battery business is also growing rapidly. According to the previous plan, SKI will increase its power battery production capacity from the current 4.7GWh to 100GWH by 2025, which will require more than 6 trillion won (35 billion yuan) of capital investment.

According to the current market data, in the first seven months of this year, SKI realized the installed capacity of power batteries of about 2.2 GWH, ranking sixth in the world and accounting for 4.1 per cent of the market. SKI aims to increase its global market share to double digits by 2025, which requires it to further expand capacity and reduce costs.

Editor's comments:

With the development of new energy vehicle industry, SKI, as a battery manufacturer, will not miss this market opportunity. At present, SKI has set up battery plants in South Korea, China, the United States and Hungary, while actively expanding its battery capacity in Hungary and the United States to reserve its own capacity. However, we still need to be vigilant that although the battery business is popular, the current SKI power battery business is still at a loss and has not yet made a profit, and the overall pressure on the enterprise battery business is obvious.