KB Asset Management Launches Korea's First 'Battery Recycling ETF'

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The first-ever exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Korea that allows easy investment in the battery recycling industry, which has recently gained attention, will be launched.

KB Asset Management announced on the 31st that it will launch the 'KBSTAR Battery Recycling iSelect ETF,' composed of 26 stocks highly related to the battery recycling industry, on the 1st of next month.

This ETF will have a differentiated portfolio from existing secondary battery-related ETFs, which have a large proportion of mega-cap stocks. Representative included stocks are Sungil Hi-Tech (5.7%), Cosmo Chemical (5.6%), EcoPro (5.3%), and Saebit Chem (5%).

As raw material prices surge, the cost burden on electric vehicle manufacturers and battery cell producers is increasing, drawing attention to the battery recycling industry. Battery recycling refers to extracting key minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel from end-of-life electric vehicle batteries and reusing them in new batteries.

According to SNE Research, the battery recycling market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 34% until 2035, and 15% to 30% of the demand for core battery minerals in 2035 is expected to be met through recycling.

Geum Jeong-seop, Head of ETF Marketing Division at KB Asset Management, said, "The electric vehicle battery recycling market is an industry that inevitably grows alongside the growth of the electric vehicle market," adding, "If invested alongside secondary battery ETFs, investors can fully benefit from the rise of secondary batteries while diversifying their investment in the electric vehicle market."

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