South Korean firm EcoPro BM— the battery material business unit of Ecopro— is set to build a 108,000 tonnes per year lithium-ion cathode factory in Hungary.
The company plans to build a cathode factory in Hungary to supply the electric car battery market, Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó confirmed via Facebook, according to news outlet Reuters.
The 264 billion forints ($810 million) investment will see the first phase of the plant’s construction finished in the second half of 2024 in the town of Debrecen.
The second phase will finish a year later.
Szijjártó is reported to have said the Hungarian government was providing an unannounced grant to EcoPro BM.
The grant total is expected to be announced after the European Commission is notified of the deal.
Hungary’s battery expansion
Last month, Korean firms Toray Industries and LG Chem concluded a joint venture agreement to create a lithium-ion battery separator firm in Hungary.
The agreement sets out plans to establish LG Toray Hungary Battery Separator Kft. (LTHS), in which Toray and LG Chem will each hold a 50% interest.
Under this arrangement, LG Chem will invest $375 million (around ¥43 billion) in Toray Industries Hungary (THU), a 100% subsidiary of Toray engaged in the manufacture and sales of battery separator film.
The deal is due to be finalised next year, subject to fulfilling regulatory requirements.
In the past five years BEST has reported on a number of battery projects in Hungary, which can be viewed here
