Ecopro Group Invests 2 Trillion Won... Builds Secondary Battery Cathode Material Plant in Pohang

CEO Song Hojun "Completion in 2028, 1,120 Jobs"

Business Agreement with Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo and Pohang Mayor Lee Gang-deok

With new investments worth over 2 trillion won in the secondary battery materials sector being attracted to Gyeongbuk Province, expectations are rising for the selection of Pohang as a specialized secondary battery complex.

On the 13th, Gyeongbuk Province and Pohang City held a large-scale investment memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony at Pohang City Hall, attended by about 40 people including Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk, Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang, Song Ho-jun, CEO of EcoPro, Park Yong-seon, Vice Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, and Baek In-gyu, Chairman of the Pohang City Council. The MOU concerns the construction of a new secondary battery cathode material manufacturing plant by the EcoPro Group.

(From left) Park Yong-seon, Vice Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council; Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk; Song Ho-jun, CEO of EcoPro; Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; and Baek In-gyu, Chairman of the Pohang City Council, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement.

Under this investment agreement, EcoPro Group will invest a total of 2 trillion won by 2028 to build a cathode material manufacturing plant on a 694,214㎡ (approximately 210,000 pyeong) site within the Pohang Blue Valley National Industrial Complex, establishing an annual production capacity of 710,000 tons of cathode materials and creating over 1,120 new jobs.

Cathode materials are one of the four core materials of batteries and are the most important component determining battery performance and capacity. They account for more than 40% of the battery manufacturing cost and are the key material that determines battery prices.

EcoPro Group was founded in 1998 by Chairman Lee Dong-chae, who was inspired by news of the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement on greenhouse gas reduction by developed countries, sparking his interest in climate and environmental issues. The group has two main business directions.

These are the environmental business operated by EcoPro HN, a spin-off from the holding company EcoPro, and the battery materials business managed by subsidiaries such as EcoPro BM.

Panorama of Ecopro Pohang Campus 3

Starting with environmental business, EcoPro Group acquired technology and know-how through various trials and errors, and entered the battery materials business after being commissioned by Cheil Industries (now Samsung SDI) to produce battery electrolytes.

After acquiring the cathode material business from Cheil Industries, EcoPro Group officially launched its business and expanded into the precursor business, becoming a global cathode material manufacturer.

Currently, EcoPro Group is investing over 2 trillion won in the Pohang Yeongilman Industrial Complex to establish the world’s only “Eco Battery Pohang Campus,” which features a vertically integrated full-cycle value chain of materials from raw materials, precursors, cathode materials, to recycling.

Since 2018, Gyeongbuk Province and Pohang City have attracted investments starting with EcoPro Group’s new secondary battery materials production and battery recycling plant, followed by POSCO Future M’s anode material production plant in 2019, cathode material production plant in 2021, and the precursor plant of the global Chinese battery company CNGR in 2022.

In 2023, they also attracted POSCO Silicon Solution’s silicon anode material plant, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, China’s largest cobalt producer’s precursor plant, and POSCO Future M’s anode material plant.

Energy Materials, which entered the battery cycling new business sector, also invested 100 billion won, building a cluster base for secondary battery-related companies. Subsequent investments by upstream and downstream companies continue, diversifying Pohang’s industrial ecosystem.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province expressed gratitude, saying, “EcoPro alone has invested a total of 4.5 trillion won in the existing Yeongilman and Blue Valley industrial complexes, transforming the industrial map of Gyeongbuk.” He added, “By 2028, when the investment is completed, EcoPro will create about 3,500 high-quality jobs in Pohang alone.”

The governor also stated, “The steel city of Pohang is transforming into a battery city in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Taking this investment as an opportunity, we will strive to secure leadership in the secondary battery materials market and make every effort to designate Pohang as a specialized advanced strategic secondary battery industrial complex.”

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