Market and product
Korea seeks leadership in rechargeable battery area
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said yesterday it will present the plan tomorrow to President Lee Myung-bak, who has been pushing green technologies as a new growth sector.
The Knowledge Ministry predicted the global rechargeable battery market will grow sixfold in the next decade from $12.3 billion in 2010 to $77.9 billion in 2020 due to increased demand for mobile phones and hybrid vehicles.
As of last year, Korea, Japan and China control 95 percent of the global production of small rechargeable batteries used in portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones.
Japan¡¯s Sanyo held 20 percent of the market followed by Samsung SDI Co. and LG Chem Ltd., with 19 percent each, Japan¡¯s Sony Corp. with 12 percent and China¡¯s BYD with 7 percent.
However, the challenge for Korea lies in energy storage batteries. ¡°Korea is on a par with Japan for electric car batteries, but in terms of energy storage batteries, the country is still behind in terms of research and development and capital investment,¡± the ministry said.
Domestic battery producers now rely on foreign technologies for 80 percent of components for rechargeable batteries.
In response, the government, the private sector and research institutes will spend 15 trillion won to develop these technologies. The government intends to increase the portion of domestic components and materials used to produce the batteries to 75 percent by 2020. It also hopes that Korea will be able to have half of the global rechargeable battery market by then.
In a sign of Korea¡¯s increased importance in the rechargeable battery market, President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for a $300 million rechargeable battery factory in Michigan to be built by Compact Power Inc., a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of LG Chem.
When it is completed by 2013, it will be LG Chem¡¯s first rechargeable factory in the U.S.
Half the investment for building the plant came from the U.S. government. Michigan will offer a $1.3 billion tax break for the plant.
The plant will produce 200,000 batteries a year for car companies.
(Source: http://joongangdaily.joins.com)
