Groundbreaking ceremony for new LG Chem cathode material plant in Gumi, South Korea

24. March 2022 LG Chem broke ground on the world’s largest cathode material production facility on 11 January 2022 in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. The company is investing the equivalent of US$417 billion to build the plant, which will supply cathode material to LG Energy Solutions. LG Chem is the largest shareholder of LG Energy Solutions with 80 per cent. The annual production capacity is said to be 60,000 tonnes per year. This makes the plant the world’s largest production facility for cathode material. With the amount produced, batteries for up to 500,000 EVs can be manufactured annually. The LG Chem factory in Gumi produces cathodes from nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminium. Batteries with these cathodes have a high energy density and a nickel content of up to 90 percent. Based on the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) requires KCs Ex certification of explosion-proof electrical components.     Raw materials for cathodes such as nickel, lithium and cobalt could become scarce in the future. Therefore, global battery manufacturers are trying to bring their cathode production in-house. Currently, LG Chem has an annual capacity of 80,000 tonnes for cathode material. The company produces cathode material at three domestic plants in Cheongju, Gumi and Iksan. Outside South Korea, it operates a joint plant with Huayu Cobalt in Wuxi, China. LG Chem plans to expand its cathode material production by 225 per cent by 2026, including plants in Europe and the US. The subsidiary LG Energy Solutions is estimated to have produced batteries with a capacity of 150 GWh in 2021. These could be used to equip around 2.25 million EVs. By 2025, it plans to expand production capacity to 400 GWh, LG Energy Solutions said. Approvals in the Ex area have been carried out in Korea since 1992. KCs certification was introduced to ensure basic safety in the design and manufacture of hazardous machinery and protective equipment in hazardous workplaces in Korea. The aim is to protect the health and safety of workers by preventing accidents. We offer certification services for all product areas, including KC certification for consumer products and especially electronics, KC-EMV certification for electronic products and KCs certification for machinery, as well as KCs for explosion-proof products. Feel free to contact us any time if you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications: Tel. Europe: +49-69-271 37 69 261 Tel. US: +1 773 654-2673 Email: info@korea-certification.com Urgent questions? Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings). For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.