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LS constructs nickel sulfate plant in Asan to bolster EV battery materials output

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LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun, center, poses with company executives during the Toricom Nickel Sulfate Plant completion ceremony held in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Monday. Courtesy of LS Group
LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun, center, poses with company executives during the Toricom Nickel Sulfate Plant completion ceremony held in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Monday. Courtesy of LS Group

By Kim Hyun-bin

LS Group completed construction of a nickel sulfate plant, strengthening its next-generation battery core material business. LS said, Monday, that the plant, located in Asan, South Chungcheong Province and operated with affiliate Toricom, is capable of producing 5,000 tons of the key material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Toricom is an investment unit of LS MnM, a non-ferrous metal material company, and is the largest urban mining company in Korea that recycles valuable metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. When LS MnM supplies crude nickel sulfate produced in the copper smelting process, Toricom produces nickel sulfate for secondary batteries after purification and crystallization processes.

LS MnM plans to expand its nickel sulfate production capacity from the current 5,000 tons to 270,000 tons in three stages by 2030 by securing other raw materials, such as mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) and black powder by utilizing its global network.

In addition, LS MnM will begin producing precursors, a cathode material, and pursue a strategy to establish a value chain that uses all of the nickel sulfate it produces for its own precursor manufacturing.

"The completion of this nickel sulfate plant is the first step in a small but meaningful journey for the future of LS Group," said Koo Ja-eun, chairman of LS Group said at the completion ceremony.

LS Group announced at the start of this year its goal of growing in size to 50 trillion won ($38.4 billion) in assets through Vision 2030 and revealed plans to invest more than 20 trillion won in the battery, electric vehicle, and semiconductor industries over the next eight years.



Kim Hyun-bin hyunbin@koreatimes.co.kr


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