Lotte Chemical to create battery materials entity in US

Hwang Jin-koo. [Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

South Korea’s Lotte Chemical Corp. this year will specify a battery materials project in the U.S. for operation in 2025 at an estimated investment of 1 trillion won ($834 million).

“Lotte Chemical has been approaching several companies in battery materials to create a company in the U.S.,” said Hwang Jin-koo, vice president and CEO of basic materials division at Lotte Chemical, during a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper.

Lotte Chemical plans to establish a battery materials company specializing in electrode foils, organic solvents for electrolytes and separators.

The new battery materials plant in the U.S. is expected to be located near the company’s ethylene production factory LC USA. Lotte Chemical plans to scale up the ethylene production capacity to 1.5 million tons from current 1 million tons as well.

“Having battery materials production base near the LC USA will create greater synergy,” said Hwang.

Lotte Group has been bolstering the battery materials business in recent years. Under its push, Lotte Aluminum started production of cathode foils, and Lotte Fine Chemical has invested in Solus Advanced Materials to make a foray into the anode copper foil business.

Lotte Chemical currently produces high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and aims to start producing ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC), raw materials for organic solvents for electrolytes, at its Daesan plant in South Chungcheong Province in 2023.

Lotte Chemical"s Daesan plant. [Photo by Lotte Chemical Corp.]

Industry experts expect Lotte Chemical would make a bold investment worth some trillion won for the battery materials business in the U.S., considering that it has so far injected total 770 billion won for related business – 120 billion won in cathode foils, 290 billion won in anode foils, 300 billion won in organic solvents for electrolytes, and 60 billion won in carbon capture facilities.

Of the total, only the 120 billion won investment in cathode foils was made overseas for a factory in Hungary.

“Cathode and anode foil business will be led by group affiliates, and Lotte Chemical will focus on expanding value chains for battery materials,” Hwang said.

While preparing production of EC and DMC, Lotte Chemical now is working on pilot test for other battery materials – ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC). If it succeeds in their production, it would become the only maker of all four raw materials for organic solvents in Korea.

As for electrolytes, the company is seeking for a partnership with other companies.

Separator business will also be expanded. Lotte Chemical sold 8,000 tons of HDPE last year and now targets to sell 20,000 tons this year and 100,000 tons by 2025 in cooperation with global producers.

Lotte Chemical recently announced a partnership with local vanadium-ion battery maker Standard Energy to advance into the energy storage system market. With ESS batteries, the company will start business ranging from materials to production and charging, Hwang added.

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