Dominate the global electric vehicle and battery market
The largest single investment
No. 1 in the wet separation membrane field
Mass production begins at the end of 2023 at the 3rd and 4th plant
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SK IET, a subsidiary of SK Innovation’s material business, threw a drastic number of matches as the largest investment in the history of the separator business. As battery demand increased amid the rapid growth of the global electric vehicle market, the company set out to lay the groundwork to secure its position as the’Global Wet Separator No. 1’with a preemptive investment.
SK IET held a board meeting on the 26th and announced on the 28th that it has decided to build the third and fourth separator plants in Europe in Shillongsk, Poland, with an investment of about 1.3 trillion won. It is the largest single investment ever made by SK IET. SK IET explained, “With the rapid growth of the global electric vehicle and battery market, the demand for purchase from related industries is greatly increasing, so we made a bold investment to respond preemptively.”
Poland’s 3rd and 4th plants each have an annual production capacity of 430 million square meters (㎡), and when the two plants are combined, they reach 860 million square meters. Adding the production capacity of 680 million m2 of existing factories 1 and 2 in Poland together, it will be possible to produce a total of 1.54 billion m2 of separators annually in Poland alone.
The separator directly affects the safety and performance of lithium-ion batteries and is an essential material that accounts for 15-20% of the battery cost. SK IET is focusing on wet separators among battery separators. While the global separator market is expected to surge to about 16 billion m2 in 2025, the ratio of demand for wet and dry separators is expected to expand from 62 to 38 in 2019 to 72 to 28 in 2025.
SK IET is planning to enter the’solidification of the number 1’overwhelming market share through aggressive investment. The company gained a 26.8% share in the wet separator market last year, surpassing Japan’s Asahi Kasehi and Toray to become the number one global company.
In particular, it is expanding its demand by putting the unrivaled safety of the separator to the fore. SK IET emphasized that there was no fire in its products, although damage to the separator was mentioned as one of the causes of the fire among the recent electric vehicle battery fires. SK Innovation explained, “Because it possesses differentiated proprietary technologies such as’sequential stretching’ technology that realizes uniform quality while controlling the thickness of the separator freely, and separator coating technology that minimizes deformation even under heat and shock.
SK IET plans to start mass production from the end of 2023 by commencing construction of the 3rd and 4th factories in Poland in the third quarter of this year. The first plant will begin mass production in the third quarter of this year, and the second plant will begin mass production in the first quarter of 2023.
Noh Jae-seok (pictured) President of SK IET said, “By expanding the supply of safe separators based on SK’s unique technology, we will alleviate concerns about battery safety among automobile consumers and contribute to the growth of the electric vehicle industry and lead the company’s growth.” Emphasized.
/ Reporter Jeon Hee-yoon [email protected]
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