Ecopro-Sony·Murata 10-Year Partnership... Penetrated Japan with High-Quality Battery Materials

First Supply of High-Nickel Cathode Material to Sony, the Originator of Battery Cell Technology in 2013
Continued Partnership with Murata, Which Acquired Sony's Battery Business, Meeting Strict Quality Standards

The partnership with Japanese battery cell companies, from Ecopro and Sony to Murata Manufacturing, has reached its 10th anniversary this year.

Ecopro first supplied high-nickel cathode materials to Japan's Sony in August 2013. Since Murata acquired Sony's battery cell business in 2017, the cooperative relationship has been maintained for 10 years. Among battery materials and parts companies, Ecopro was the first to supply materials to Japan at that time. It is a rare case for a partnership to last more than 10 years.

Sony, which first commercialized lithium-ion batteries in 1993 and is a global cell maker, accepting advanced battery materials from a small and medium-sized Korean company was an unprecedented event in the materials and parts industry.

In March 2015, Lee Dong-chae, former chairman of EcoPro (fourth from the left), and EcoPro executives are posing for a commemorative photo at the signing ceremony of a long-term supply contract with Sony.
[Photo by EcoPro]

Ecopro-Sony Partnership Formed Amid a Life-or-Death Crisis

In 2009, Ecopro expanded its battery material line with funds raised through its IPO. Competitors, feeling threatened by Ecopro's emergence, started a chicken game. Ecopro was supplying precursors at $6-7 per kg, but competitors lowered prices to the high $3 range. As losses increased with more production, Ecopro gave up supply after a few months and faced the possibility of business withdrawal.

Ecopro proactively restructured its precursor business and began focusing on high-nickel cathode materials (NCA). This was a choice of focus and concentration to overcome the crisis. The competitors' price undercutting became the turning point for Ecopro to shift from the precursor business to the cutting-edge high-nickel cathode material business.

At a strategy meeting, former Ecopro Chairman Lee Dong-chae encouraged executives, saying, "We invested hundreds of billions of won to expand the precursor line through capital increase and bank loans, but more than half of the sales are gone. If this continues, we will die. Let's break through Sony, the best battery cell maker in the world." Employees from all departments, including sales and R&D, took on a do-or-die spirit.

In 2010, Ecopro attended Japan's representative battery exhibition, 'Battery Japan,' and set up a booth right next to Sony's. However, Sony did not open its doors to the unfamiliar small Korean company. Ecopro attended 'Battery Japan' again in 2011, set up a booth, and earnestly requested Sony to test their materials at least once. After the 2011 exhibition, just as Ecopro staff were about to board a flight back to Korea, they received a call from Sony. It was a message from Sony Tsugema, head of the business division, asking them to visit Sony's headquarters in Fukushima Prefecture. Ecopro's development and sales teams visited Sony headquarters and explained Ecopro's cathode material technology, but there was still a gap from Sony's required quality standards.

Choi Moon-ho, CEO of Ecopro BM, recalled that Sony requested them to "develop cathode materials that cannot be found anywhere else in the world."

Crossing the Threshold of Sony, the Originator of Secondary Batteries

In the fall of 2012, Sony formed a task force (TF) centered on its quality personnel and dispatched them to Ecopro's Ochang plant in Chungbuk.

The Sony TF stayed at Ecopro's Ochang plant for about a month and began quality guidance. Ecopro received quality tutoring from Sony. Ecopro proposed measures such as organizing and cleaning the plant to fundamentally block foreign substances from entering the battery material process.

After about a month, the Sony TF judged that Ecopro's high-nickel cathode material quality had reached a certain level and requested Ecopro to send prototypes to Sony's cell line in Japan. In August 2013, Ecopro supplied 5 tons of battery cathode materials to Sony for testing.

In March 2015, Ecopro signed a long-term supply contract with Sony. Sony recognized Ecopro's technological capabilities after observing the quality upgrade through trial supply. It was a groundbreaking move at the time for Sony to open its doors to a Korean company rather than a domestic one. The decision was made after no quality issues occurred even once during the trial supply. Although Ecopro planned to expand its battery material business through line expansion in 2012, it turned the crisis caused by competitors' price undercutting into an opportunity.

Ecopro's supply of cathode materials to Sony was the first case of a battery materials and parts company exporting to Japan, instilling confidence that Korean materials and parts companies could penetrate the Japanese market if quality standards were met. Ecopro's technological capabilities proved to be on par with advanced Japanese material companies, attracting attention from domestic and international battery cell companies.

In 2015, Ecopro completed its third plant in Ochang, establishing an annual production capacity of 4,300 tons. High-nickel cathode material sales doubled from 1,100 tons in 2014 to 2,000 tons in 2015, surpassing 100 billion won in sales for the first time since its founding. Following Sumitomo, the No. 1 NCA cathode material company, Ecopro secured the world's second position and led high-nickel cathode material technology. Currently, Ecopro's high-nickel cathode material sales rank first in the world.

EcoPro High-Nickel Cathode Material
[Photo by EcoPro]

From Sony to Murata, From Murata to the World

In 2017, Sony sold its battery business division to Murata Manufacturing (hereafter Murata). Murata is a Japanese electronics company holding the world's highest market share in the multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) field, known as the "rice of industry."

Ecopro supplies NCA cathode materials for batteries used in power tools, cordless vacuum cleaners, and electric bicycles to Murata, steadily increasing the transaction volume from 6 tons in 2013, when it first started trading with Sony, to thousands of tons annually now.

Through transactions with Japan's technology materials powerhouse Sony and now Murata, Ecopro has upgraded its technological capabilities by meeting stringent quality standards. It now supplies high-quality high-nickel cathode materials to global electric vehicle battery cell manufacturers such as Samsung SDI and SK On, playing a key role in the Korean battery cell ecosystem.

Yang Je-heon, Director of Marketing at Ecopro, said, "Murata has a strong trust relationship with Ecopro, guaranteeing the quality of Ecopro's battery cathode materials. We will continue to maintain our relationship with Murata, our 10-year partner, by supplying high-quality cathode materials."

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