ILJIN Materials, Malaysia Plant 2 construction to start soon

ILJIN Materials, a secondary battery core material maker, will soon start construction of the Elecfoil Plant 2 in Malaysia. It is under the determination that as the electric vehicle battery market is growing, the demand for elecfoil, a core material, is solid.

An ILJIN Materials official said on 28th that "construction of the Electronics Foil Plant 2 in Malaysia will soon begin." ILJIN Materials held a ceremony for the completion of the first plant on 24th at the Samjaya Free Trade Zone in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The production capacity of the Plant 1's elecfoil is 10,000 tons per year. With the completion of the first plant and mass production, ILJIN Materials' elecfoil production capacity will increase from 22,000 tons per year to 32,000 tons per year. The company is starting the construction of the second plant immediately after the completion of the first plant. This is because the company is confident about the demand for elecfoil.

Electrofoil is a thin copper foil with a thickness of 10 micrometers (㎛) or less which is made by electrolysis of copper sulfate solution. It is the core material of a large secondary battery cathode current collector such as electric car and energy storage device (ESS). ILJIN Materials explained that battery makers, which are major customers, are expanding their facilities in Europe and China, thus securing production bases overseas. Electrofoil used for one smartphone battery is about 4g, but it needs more than 15kg for an electric car battery.

"The capacity utilization rate at Plant 1 in Malaysia will rise from 40 percent in the first quarter to 70 percent in the second quarter, and then reach 100 percent in the third and fourth quarters, The expansion due to the growth of the downstream industry is a matter of timing" Choi, Bo-Young, a researcher at BARO Investment & Securities, said. "ILJIN Materials' sales will reach W577.9bn in 2019. ILJIN Materials's sales in 2017 were W454bn, and its sales forecasted at W503.8bn for last year, up 10%,” she added. According to Researcher Choi’s expectation, this year’s sales would grow for more than 15%. ILJIN Materials elecfoil sales account for more than 60% of its total sales.

Last year, ILJIN Materials signed a contract to supply 60,000 tons (about W800bn) of secondary battery elecfoil for five years from 2019 to 2023. ILJIN Group Chairman Heo Jin-gyu said, "We will leap to become a leading company in the secondary battery parts and materials industry with the Malaysian factory as the foundation."