LG Chem to form new company for its battery business

LG Chem Ltd. will create a new company for its battery business as it anticipates further profitability due to the growing demand from electric vehicle makers.

The EV battery market has been on a roll as automakers around the world race to go electric and eco-friendly due to tightened regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists say are to blame for global warming.

LG Chem, South Korea’s top petrochemical manufacturer, has been mulling various strategic options to strengthen the competitiveness of its battery business.

LG Chem's battery business unit achieved an operating income of 155.5 billion won in the second quarter on quarterly record sales of 2.82 trillion won.

The company expects its battery business to continue posting sharp growth in the third quarter due to increased shipments of electric vehicle (EV) batteries to Europe and increased sales of cylindrical batteries.

LG Chem supplies EV batteries to Tesla, Audi, Volkswagen, Daimler, GM, Ford, Renault, Volvo, Hyundai, and Kia.

It is on track to boost its production capacity to 100-gigawatt hours by the end of this year, which is enough to supply batteries for about 1.7 million electric cars.

The company has also said its order backlog for EV batteries is currently valued at more than 150 trillion won.