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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":710,"relatedVideos":711},112474210323622,"b3530ca5-e680-4108-b26b-d6b830f1ae2f","Korean battery rivals look to expand global influence","korean-battery-rivals-look-to-expand-global-influence","article/korean-battery-rivals-look-to-expand-global-influence",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":550,"content":560,"excerpt":688,"featured":50,"reporter":689,"_editable":693,"component":694,"seo_title":543,"categories":695,"visibility":702,"author_company":49,"featured_image":703,"seo_description":688,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":708,"formattedArticleDate":709},"e181093d-7b3d-413b-9e27-143390a5d9c6","2020-01-17 00:00",[],[551],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":554},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":555,"image":556,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":557},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":561,"content":562},"doc",[563,570,575,580,585,590,595,600,605,610,617,622,627,632,637,642,647,652,657,662,677],{"type":564,"attrs":565,"content":566},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[567],{"text":568,"type":569},"Korean battery producers LG Chem and SK Innovation are locked in an ongoing legal dispute in the USA, but away from the courtroom drama both company’s battery expansion plans continue.","text",{"type":564,"attrs":571,"content":572},{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":569},"Kim Jun, SK Innovation’s CEO, has announced that the company is looking to build a second battery production facility in the USA and expand existing facilities in Hungary.",{"type":564,"attrs":576,"content":577},{"textAlign":49},[578],{"text":579,"type":569},"As it stands, SK Innovation has 6 battery megafactories in the pipeline globally and Benchmark Minerals’ Lithium Ion Battery Megafactory Assessment had a little over 70GWh of capacity in the pipeline for 2029 as at the end of December.",{"type":564,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":569},"Caspar Rawles, Head of Price Assessments, at Benchmark Minerals said of reports of SK Innovation’s expansion plans: “The industry is seeing momentum continue in the build out of lithium ion battery production capacity globally. SK Innovation is still playing catch up in capacity terms to its Korean rivals LG Chem, but is accelerating plans rapidly. These comments from SK Innovation show how rapidly the demands of the downstream industry are expanding with the company planning expansions prior to the original facility being commissioned.",{"type":564,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":569},"The new plant in the USA, if confirmed, will add to the growing capacities in Europe and North America as the industry heats up for more widespread EV adoption.”",{"type":564,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":569},"As of the end of 2019 Benchmark Minerals is tracking 367 GWh of planned capacity in Europe by 2029 and 206 GWh in North America.”",{"type":564,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":569},"As Rawles noted, battery upstart SK Innovation is still catching up to its Korean rival LG Chem, which had 285 GWh in the pipeline for 2029.",{"type":564,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":569},"LG Chem has been the most aggressive tier 1 battery producer in terms of expanding both cumulative capacity and the location of that capacity. It now has seven sites under development for either expansion or a new battery cell production facility, having announced a joint venture US megfactory with GM in December.",{"type":564,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":569},"The cell producer’s global approach to battery making is creating a new, more localised direction for the electric vehicle industry.",{"type":611,"attrs":612,"content":614},"heading",{"level":613,"textAlign":49},6,[615],{"text":616,"type":569},"New battery markets",{"type":564,"attrs":618,"content":619},{"textAlign":49},[620],{"text":621,"type":569},"There have been reports that LG Chem are looking at business opportunities in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries on the back of growing demand for electric bikes.",{"type":564,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":569},"Pollution is a major factor driving countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, and India towards electrifying their fleet of mainly 2-wheel vehicles. However, the region has little upstream supply chain infrastructure and the only megafactory in the pipeline is located in Thailand according to our latest assessment.",{"type":564,"attrs":628,"content":629},{"textAlign":49},[630],{"text":631,"type":569},"Indonesia is hoping to invite key producers in the supply chain who supply value-added materials, devices, and automobiles rather than simply resource extraction, which has dominated its industry in the past. This initiative has shown early signs of success as last year Toyota announced it would invest $2 billion in the development of EVs in Indonesia in the period up to 2023. The country also brought in legislation last year with aims to stimulate EV growth through incentives, environmental protections and domestic protection requirements.",{"type":611,"attrs":633,"content":634},{"level":613,"textAlign":49},[635],{"text":636,"type":569},"Upstream developments in Indonesia",{"type":564,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":569},"Indonesia recently brought in a nickel ore export ban, and is attempting to develop its downstream nickel processing facilities, with Chinese investment in projects such as the Morowali HPAL (high-pressure acid leaching) facility, backed by Tsingshan, GEM and CATL.",{"type":564,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":569},"Greg Miller, Analyst in Benchmark Minerals’ Price Assessment Division said: “As the industry’s spotlight shifts towards nickel, and concerns grow around long-term supply dynamics, Indonesia is attempting to position itself at the heart of the supply chain.”",{"type":564,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":569},"“However, the success of these new operations is far from a given, and you only have to look at the turbulent history of high-pressure acid leach plants in the region to reasonably assume that a considerable proportion of this pipeline capacity will fail to reach the market.”",{"type":564,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":569},"“Ultimately the widespread adoption of high nickel cathode chemistries will rest upon the success or failure of these Indonesian nickel HPAL operations.”",{"type":611,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"level":613,"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":569},"Find out more",{"type":564,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665,667,675],{"text":666,"type":569},"Benchmark Minerals has launched its Nickel Price Assessment – for more information ",{"text":668,"type":569,"marks":669},"click here",[670],{"type":671,"attrs":672},"link",{"href":673,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":674},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/contact/","url",{"text":676,"type":569},".",{"type":564,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680,682,687],{"text":681,"type":569},"Data on SK Innovation and LG Chem is taken from Benchmark Minerals’ Lithium Ion Battery Megafactory Assessment – find out more ",{"text":683,"type":569,"marks":684},"here",[685],{"type":671,"attrs":686},{"href":673,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":674},{"text":676,"type":569},"Korean battery producers LG Chem and SK Innovation are locked in an ongoing legal dispute in the USA, but away from the courtroom drama both company’s battery expansion plans continue. Kim Jun, SK Innovation’s CEO, has announced that the company is looking to build a second battery production facility in the USA and expand existing […]",[690],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":691},{"job_title":555,"image":692,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},{"filename":557},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"e181093d-7b3d-413b-9e27-143390a5d9c6\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[696,699],{"slug":697,"name":698},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":700,"name":701},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":704,"name":704,"focus":704,"title":704,"source":704,"filename":705,"copyright":704,"fieldtype":706,"meta_data":707,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/b97a42af7c/bm-lg-towers-8-e1654016054587.jpg","asset",{"alt":704,"title":704,"source":704,"copyright":704},"Jan 17, 2020","17th January 2020",[],[],1780500993591]