Industry sources said that South Korean battery manufacturer SK Innovation and American automaker Ford Motor will establish a battery joint venture in the United States to ensure a stable supply of electric vehicle batteries.
According to people familiar with the matter, the two companies plan to announce a memorandum of understanding on the joint venture later on Thursday.
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The predecessor of SK Innovation is Korea’s first oil refining and chemical company-Korea Petroleum. It is a battery production subsidiary of SK Group, the third-largest conglomerate in Korea. The company’s businesses include petroleum development, refining, and chemical engineering. , Lubricants and the future energy industry.
Last month, the company agreed to pay 2 trillion won (US$1.78 billion) to resolve a battery dispute between it and its local competitor, LG Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of LG Chem.
According to reports, the settlement between LG Energy Solutions and SK Innovation will include a one-time payment and royalties, and will also ensure that SK Innovation can now continue to build its battery plant in Georgia.
The settlement of SK Innovation and LG Energy Solutions is a “major good” for SK Innovation, which will allow the company to avoid a 10-year import ban. It is reported that SK Innovation has invested 2.6 billion U.S. dollars to build a battery factory in Georgia to provide batteries for Ford F-150 electric vehicles.
The company is expected to complete the construction of the Georgia plant later this year and build a second plant next to it. The plant is expected to start battery production in 2023.
|Via|
