LG Chem sees up to 25% battery sector growth in 2024: report

South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd., the parent of the world’s second-largest electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., expects up to 25% growth in the global cell industry this year despite weakening demand for the clean vehicles, Bloomberg reported its head as saying in a TV interview.

“Those businesses are still growing still by leaps and bounds even though people are talking about some slowdown,” LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-Cheol told Bloomberg Television in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“It is still very robust growth that we are looking at,” said Shin, referring to the production of cathodes, separators and additives, according to Bloomberg.

The report came as the global secondary battery industry has been struggling to deal with sluggish EV sales and lower selling prices amid tumbling raw material costs.

LG Energy, a supplier of global EV makers such as the industry leader Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co. (GM), disappointed investors as its quarterly earnings missed estimates.

SPENDS $10 BN ON BATTERIES, SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS, PHARMACEUTICALS

LG Chem striving to become a leading global battery materials producer last month broke ground on its first cathode plant in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The company plans to spend about 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in the first phase of the factory with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons by 2026, enough to power 600,000 EVs with a range of 500 kilometers (310 miles) per charge. It is set to double the capacity through the expansion of the plant depending on market conditions.

Tennessee is home to Ultium Cells LLC, LG Energy’s battery joint venture with GM.

LG Chem, which also runs petrochemicals and healthcare businesses, is investing $10 billion in the batteries, sustainable materials and pharmaceuticals sectors, Shin told Bloomberg Television. The company is also looking into potential mergers and acquisitions in those industries, he said without elaboration, according to Bloomberg.

“(We are) looking for long-term strategic direction,” he was quoted as saying by the US financial information and media company.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.