LG Chem announced on Jan. 9 that it held a ceremony to conclude an investment contract for battery plants with Namgyeong City at a hotel in China.
Under the agreement, LG Chem will invest 600 billion won each in its battery plant for electric cars and a small battery plant in the Nanjing economic development district by 2020.
LG Chem made this investment in order to preemptively respond to the rapid increase in demand for non-IT batteries such as pouches for electric vehicles, LEV (electric bicycles, scooters), electric tools, and wireless cleaners, the company said.
According to a market research company, B3, the global demand for cylindrical batteries is expected to grow from 2.3 billion units in 2015 to 6 billion units this year as new markets are expanding.
Noting that LG Chem will lead the global market in areas such as light electric vehicles and power tools through this factory expansion, Kim Jong-hyun, president of LG Chem, said, "We will actively nurture three battery factories in Nanjing as Asian and global export bases."
In addition to the two battery plants located in the Nanjing economic development district, LG Chem has been constructing the No. 2 battery plant for electric vehicles since October last year.