(EV) batteries

South Korean battery giant LG Chem has confirmed plans to invest the equivalent of more than US$1 billion to expand its battery manufacturing capacity in eastern China.

LG Chem signed a 1.1 trillion Korean won (KRW) investment contract with municipal and city leaders to include building a third plant in Nanjing, which will produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

According to the agreement, LG Chem will invest KRW600bn in the new plant and an existing EV and small battery plant by 2020 respectively— all in the Nanjing Xinjiang Economic Development Zone.

Chinese automotive manufacturer BYD plans to list its batteries business within the next four years to fund expansion plans, founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu has said.

Wang (pictured) told Bloomberg the company, which is backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway group, is eyeing an initial public offering for its battery storage business by the end of 2022.

Wang said the company is in the process of spinning off its vehicle-battery operations into a separate firm before listing. He said the listing would take place by the end of 2022— but that the Shenzhen-based company had yet to decide where the shares would be traded.