Ecopro to Invest 1.2 Trillion KRW Domestically This Year... Cumulative Investment Reaches 5.5 Trillion KRW

Four Campuses Established in Pohang
Employment Creation Expected to Approach 3,000 Jobs

Aerial photo of Ecopro Pohang Campus. The vacant lot on the left is the currently developing 4th campus. Photo by Ecopro

EcoPro will invest approximately 1.2 trillion KRW domestically this year, focusing on its Pohang campus. This move aims to advance the secondary battery ecosystem, from recycling used batteries to manufacturing precursors and lithium hydroxide, and producing cathode materials, positioning the company to lead the future market. The large-scale investment is also expected to significantly contribute to regional economic revitalization through job creation.

EcoPro plans to invest 690 billion KRW in expanding its precursor factory. Additionally, it will invest about 320 billion KRW and 160 billion KRW respectively in expanding cathode material and lithium hydroxide factories, and 10 billion KRW in industrial gas production, totaling approximately 1.18 trillion KRW in investments this year.

Through this investment, EcoPro aims to complete construction of EcoPro EM's high-nickel cathode material (NCA) production plant CAM8 and EcoPro Innovation's lithium hydroxide production plant LHM2 by the first half of this year. It will also build EcoPro Materials' CPM and RMP plants 3 and 4. CPM is a precursor factory, while RMP is the sulfuric acid oxidation process, the initial stage of the precursor process. Nickel, cobalt, and manganese raw materials are imported and undergo the sulfuric acid oxidation process to complete the precursor.

Once the Pohang 4th campus is completed, the Pohang campus will evolve into a large-scale secondary battery industrial complex producing 270,000 tons of cathode materials, 110,000 tons of precursors, and 26,000 tons of lithium hydroxide. The 270,000 tons of cathode materials produced at the Pohang campus is enough to manufacture about 3 million electric vehicles.

The Pohang campus, which EcoPro began developing in 2020 and consists of four sites, will have a total investment of 5.5 trillion KRW including this year's investment.

EcoPro BM, which produces cathode materials, is located at Pohang 1 campus, while EcoPro Materials, which produces precursor raw materials and products, is located at Pohang 2 campus. The complex Pohang 3 campus houses EcoPro EM (cathode materials), EcoPro Innovation (lithium hydroxide), EcoPro CNG (used battery recycling), and EcoPro AP (oxygen gas).

The Pohang campus, located within the Pohang Yeongilman General Industrial Complex, spans approximately 513,975 square meters, making it the largest secondary battery cathode material cluster in Korea. It has established a 'Closed Loop Eco-system' that integrates the entire secondary battery process from used battery recycling to cathode material production within a single complex, serving as a benchmarking example for various domestic and international companies.

EcoPro's large-scale investment has also significantly increased new jobs in the region. As of February, about 2,200 employees work across Pohang 1, 2, and 3 campuses, accounting for 63% of EcoPro's total workforce of approximately 3,500. With the full operation of the 4th campus starting next year, the local workforce is expected to approach 3,000.

An EcoPro representative stated, "Although the upstream industry is facing difficulties, there is no doubt about the market's growth potential, so we plan to execute the planned investments without delay." They added, "Proactive investment and job creation will greatly contribute to regional economic revitalization."

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