SKIET signs deal to supply secondary battery separators to N.America

SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), an SK Innovation-affiliated manufacturer of secondary battery separators, is set to move into the North American market.

The company announced in a regulatory filing on Friday that it has signed a long-term supply contract for secondary battery separators targeting North America and other overseas regions. However, the contract amount, contracting party and major contract terms were not disclosed as per the request of the contracting party.

Considering that the disclosed amount is more than 2.5% of annual revenue, the amount is expected to be at least 14.6 billion won ($11.2 million) or higher. SKIET's recent revenue was 585.8 billion won ($448.3 million). The contract period is from October of this year until September. 2030.

With the acquisition of customers in the North American region through this contract, it is expected that the business will gain momentum with confirmed entry into the North American market in the future. Given the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the expansion of separators into the North American market is essential.

SKIET has set the timing for market entry around 2028 when the requirements for North America-produced battery components will be more than 90%. Once the entry into the North American market is confirmed, the construction of the separator factory will be completed by 2027, and commercial production will commence in 2028.

In addition, in line with the high growth of the electric vehicle market, the company plans to expand its annual separator production capacity from 1.53 billion square meters in 2022 to 4 billion square meters by 2025.

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com