According to foreign media reports, SK Innovation plans to increase its annual battery production capacity to 200 GWh, by 2025, 60% higher than the previously announced target of 125 GWh. SK has battery plants in the United States, Hungary, China and South Korea, with an annual production capacity of about 40 GWh.
SK CEO Kim Jun said on July 1st that it was considering spinning off and listing its growing battery business. The move follows the example of its rival LG Chemical, which will list its LG chemical battery division this year.
"We haven't decided how to spin off the battery business," Kim said. It takes a lot of resources to further expand our battery business, so we are seeing a spin-off as a way to secure resources. " Kim added that he would review whether to list only on Nasdaq or dual listings in the US and South Korea.
Jee Dong-seob, head of SK's battery business, said the rapid spin-off of the battery division would bring the company more money to expand its battery business, but details or timing had not yet been decided. Jee said SK's battery division plans to account for 1/5 of the global electric vehicle battery market by 2030, and its battery joint venture with Ford will have an annual production capacity of 180 GWh by 2030. SK said it had received orders for more than 130 trillion won ($115 billion) worth of batteries, more than 1 trillion watt-hours of batteries, to power about 14 million electric cars.
Analysts say that if SK does not have the battery business, it will only have the traditional petrochemical business, which is not attractive to investors. SK's announcement comes at a time when demand for electric cars is surging and carmakers are working with battery makers to ensure uninterrupted supply. After reaching the expected 2.5 million vehicles in 2020, global electric vehicle sales will grow by 70 per cent this year compared with the same period last year, according to industry bodies.
