"SKC, World-Class Battery Copper Foil Manufacturer... 250,000 Tons Production by 2025" [Dreaming of Next-Generation Batteries⑥]

Interview with An Jung-gyu, Head of SK Nexilis Copper Foil Technology Development

52,000t Production Jeongeup Plant
Malaysian Plant Started Last Year
Europe and North America Investment Plans This Year
World Market Share 22% Leading No.1
High-Strength and High-Elongation Products Already in Production

Ahn Jung-gyu, Head of Copper Foil Technology Development at SK Nexilis. (Photo by SKC)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

"SK Nexilis is already producing high-strength, high-elongation copper foil products. Our goal is to secure a production capacity of 250,000 tons by 2025."

On the 8th, Ahn Jung-gyu, Head of Copper Foil Technology Development at SK Nexilis, an investment company in SKC's secondary battery materials business, emphasized in an interview with Asia Economy that the company's copper foil technology has already reached a global level and that it is important to steadily move forward to achieve the goal.

Copper foil is a thin copper film that wraps the anode material, a core component of secondary battery batteries. The thinner it is, the higher the battery capacity and the lighter the weight. The wider and longer it is, the greater the possibility of increasing the productivity of customer companies. Demand is explosive. According to the industry, the demand for copper foil for secondary batteries is estimated to increase to 1.59 million tons by 2025. According to Ahn, SK Nexilis has the technology to produce the thinnest, widest, and longest copper foil products in the world.

2025 is the year when the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) comes into effect. From then on, if more than 75% of electric vehicle parts produced in the U.S. are not made with local components, tariff benefits will no longer be available. It is also the time when Japan's Panasonic announced it would be the first in the world to commercialize all-solid-state batteries. Battery cell manufacturers are rushing to build large-scale factories despite profitability deterioration to secure market share in the U.S., Europe, and China, so as not to fall behind in the 'economies of scale' competition during this period.

SKC, which supplies battery cell companies, is also focusing on 2025. The plan is to have a production capacity of 250,000 tons by 2025 through investments in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do (52,000 tons), Malaysia (50,000 tons), Poland (50,000 tons), and North America. Since the technology has reached a global level, they intend to sufficiently equip production facilities as well.

Ahn said, "SK Nexilis is already operating a 52,000-ton production facility in Jeongeup, started construction of a 50,000-ton plant in Malaysia last year, and plans to start construction of a 50,000-ton plant in Poland this year. We will make an investment decision in North America within this year to secure a 250,000-ton production capacity system by 2025, and the plan is progressing without any setbacks." According to market research firm SNE Research, SK Nexilis held a 22% share of the copper foil market as of the first half of last year, ranking first in the world.

Exterior view of SK Nexilis Jeongeup Plant. (Photo by SKC)

On the technology side, advanced work is underway to produce 'high-strength, high-elongation' copper foil. To increase battery capacity, thinner copper foil must be used because the thinner the copper foil, the more anode active material can be loaded. Also, the compression rate in the rolling process, which is a post-coating process, must be increased. In the series of manufacturing processes, the higher the strength of the copper foil, the lower the likelihood of defective products. In other words, having the capability to produce 'high-strength' copper foil means gaining the trust of customers such as battery cell manufacturers. Additionally, recently, customers are increasing the coating speed of active materials to secure price competitiveness, so the ability to quickly dry the active materials must also be secured. Since there is a limit to extending the length of drying facilities due to cost issues, they are responding by raising the drying temperature. This means producing copper foil that can withstand heat well.

Ahn said, "By utilizing SK Nexilis's production capacity of high-strength, high-elongation copper foil products, we will provide appropriate solutions to customers and develop new products by deriving the necessary copper foil properties according to the silicon anode material content and type."

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