SK Innovation will split off its battery business, commits to green-centered business

2 July 2021, 08:59:22

Yesterday, SK Innovation held the "SK Innovation Stroy Day" at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul. The event unveiled key points from the company's strategy for development which can be encompassed in one phrase "From carbon to green". This means that the company is ready to transform its carbon-centered business structure into one that operates a green/eco-friendly-centered business. This will be achieved based on three core pillars - green anchoring by strengthening the existing green/ecological portfolio including separators, recycling, and batteries; green transformation which means converting existing carbon businesses to eco-firendly ones such as plastic recycling; greenhouse advancement with the goal to reach zero emissions.

SK Innovation announced that the company is planning to split off its battery business and commence an initial public offering as soon as possible. Exact timeline has not been shared. It was said that the current battery order backlog reached 1TWh. Until now, it was known that only the top two global companies had received orders of 1TWh or more, but as SK announced that its order backlog was 1TWh, this immediately places it in the top three, if all orders are completed. Moreover, if the ongoing order program is completed, this backlog will increase further. Dong-seop Ji, CEO of SK battery business, predicted that by the end of next year, SK Innovation will be third in the world in therms of monthly sales.

SK Innovation expects its battery business to record 3.5 trillion won in sales this year, over 6 trillion won in 2022, and 15-20 trillion won in 2025. The production scale will also increase significantly. CEO Ji Dong-seop said, “From the current 40GWh level, it is expected to reach 85GWh in '23, 200GWh in '25, and more than 500GWh in '30. Each of them will be able to create up to 2.5 trillion won,” he said.

In addition, with the success of the listing of a subsidiary in the LiBS (Lithium-Ion Battery Separator) business, a key material for batteries, SK innovation is expected to increase the production scale of LiBS from 1.4 billion m2 to 2.1 billion m2 by '23, and then the electric vehicle industry is expected to grow in earnest. In '25, it plans to expand to 4 billion square meters, three times the current size, and plans to solidify its position as the world's number one company in the separator market.

The Battery Metal Recycle (BMR) business has developed its own lithium hydroxide recovery technology based on the accumulated oil refinery operation technology under the goal of "canning batteries from batteries" and has applied for 54 patents. This is a groundbreaking project that can reduce the carbon generated during the initial lithium mining by 40 to 70%.

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