SOUTH KOREA LG invests again in batteries for electric cars but within the country

He announced new productions at the Ochang plant of the group’s subsidiary, second only to China’s CATL in this fast-growing sector of the world economy. Washington’s subsidies for electric cars are related to setting up production plants in North America.

Seoul () – The South Korean company LG Energy Solutions continues its career of global expansion. Last week it announced about $3 billion in investments at its Ochang, South Korea, plant to expand the supply of batteries for electric cars. According to Nikkei Asia, the increase in production is due to a Tesla orderthe world’s leading manufacturer of electric cars.

With purchase orders worth approximately $200 billion, the electric car market is experiencing rapid development around the world. In this context, LG’s new investment in Korea is somewhat a rebalancing of the company’s strategy, which in the last year had invested heavily in expanding abroad.

The South Korean company has focused a lot on the electrification of the North American car market and the demand for batteries that this growth will bring. In fact, LG Energy Solutions has launched several joint ventures in the United States and Canada. Last year, together with General Motors, the construction of a factory in Ohio was announced, which began production lines this summer. In the same Midwestern state, the South Korean company plans to invest another 4 billion dollars together with the Japanese Honda and a third factory will soon open in Ontario, in collaboration with the Italian-French group Stellantis.

The expansion of Korean plants It comes at a delicate time for the company. This summer, Washington introduced a subsidy for American consumers who want to buy electric cars, but only if they are made in North America, sparking a strong discontent among automotive companies that do not have a production plant in that market. Understandably, the South Korean government had disagreed with the US authorities, because it discriminated against its trading partners. Although the midterm elections paralyzed the legislative process, some industry representatives did not hide their optimism about a possible extension of the subsidy. LG’s decision to invest in Korea instead of the United States is directly related to this situation.

LG Energy Solutions, which went public on the Seoul stock exchange earlier this year, is one of the latest companies created by the technology conglomerate known as LG Group, one of the largest and most important in the country, with branching interests that they range from household appliances to chemicals, through telecommunications and consumer goods. With the creation of the company, the South Korean group has consolidated its presence in the emerging sector of batteries for electric cars. Indeed, currently LG Energy Solution is industry leaderonly behind the Chinese CATL.