Lotte Chemical Collaborates with Sasol Chemical in the US on Electric Vehicle Battery Organic Solvents

Domestic First Factory Related to Daesan Under Construction for Next Year's Goal
Export of Self-Developed EMC and DEC Technologies to Korea, US, and Europe

Following Localization of Fully Imported Organic Solvents, Establishing Supply Chains in US and Europe

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Lotte Chemical announced on the 20th that it has signed a preliminary feasibility study memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sasol Chemical, the chemical division of the global petrochemical company Sasol in the United States, for the construction of a factory producing organic solvents for electrolytes used in electric vehicle batteries.

Lotte Chemical, which is building Korea's first organic solvent factory for electrolytes in Daesan, aims to expand its global supply capacity to the rapidly growing markets in the United States and Europe through a partnership with Sasol Chemical.

The two companies are reviewing the possibility of advancing the project at Sasol's sites in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA, and Mal, Germany. The main raw materials for the factory will be supplied by Sasol, and Lotte Chemical plans to apply its self-developed technologies for ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC).

Lee Young-jun, head of Lotte Chemical's battery materials business division, said, "As battery demand increases, it is simultaneously driving explosive growth in the four core materials." He added, "Lotte Chemical will rapidly expand its battery materials business to quantitatively and qualitatively lead the global materials market."

Shelly Graman, Vice President of Strategy Development and Optimization at Sasol Chemical, stated, "Through the Lake Charles site and raw material supply, we will develop facilities that provide key materials for the lithium-ion battery market." She also said, "We will strive to derive solutions that align with the sustainability strategies of both companies, including options to minimize carbon emissions such as the use of renewable energy."

Last month, Lotte Chemical announced plans to invest 4 trillion KRW by 2030 and achieve annual sales of 5 trillion KRW. The company set goals to expand battery material solutions and become a leading global battery materials company.

Investment activities related to this are also active. To this end, about 210 billion KRW was invested last month to build production facilities for high-purity ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC), organic solvents for electric vehicle battery electrolytes, at the Daesan plant, aiming for completion in the second half of next year. The separator business, one of the four core battery materials, plans to increase its current annual production capacity from 7,000 tons to 100,000 tons by 2030, with sales reaching 230 billion KRW.

In January, Lotte Chemical invested 65 billion KRW to acquire a 15% stake in Standard Energy, a US company that developed the world's first vanadium-ion battery, recognized as the next-generation battery for energy storage systems (ESS), securing the position of the second-largest shareholder. In April, it signed an MOU to establish a joint venture (JV) with US startup Soelect, which is gaining attention for developing lithium metal anodes and solid electrolytes, key materials for next-generation batteries. They plan to build a gigawatt-hour (GWh) scale lithium metal anode production facility worth about 200 million USD (approximately 258.1 billion KRW) at Soelect's US plant by 2025.

Lotte Chemical's ultimate goal is to grow into a core company in the global electric vehicle battery supply chain, connecting "electric vehicles - batteries - materials."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.