A-Pro aiming to reduce reliance on LG Energy 

Battery equipment maker A-Pro is seeking to secure new customers besides its main customer LG Energy Solution.

A-Pro CEO Lim Jong-hyun told TheElec that the company was also seeking to expand sales in the US.

The company’s main offering is its charge and discharge equipment that supports degassing and high-temperature baking in one piece of equipment.

A-Pro is the exclusive supplier of the equipment to Ultium Cells, LG Energy Solution and General Motors’ battery-making joint venture.

A-Pro is planning to use gallium nitride-based power management IC onto the equipment to further upgrade its capabilities, people familiar with the matter said.

The South Korean equipment maker recorded 61.5 billion won in revenue and 4.8 billion won in operating loss last year.

Revenue increased 25% from the year before but the company also faced losses due to rising raw material prices caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has so far won 80.4 billion won worth of orders for equipment from Ultium Cells and is hoping for a turnaround in 2022.

Ultium Cells is expected to spend more on its planned third and fourth factories compared to its first and second ones.

The A-Pro CEO said the company expects to record around 100 billion won in revenue this year.