South Korean rechargeable battery materials company EcoPro said Monday it has invested US$11 million in a stake of a nickel smelting factory in Indonesia to secure the key battery material. In the latest investment, EcoPro acquired a 9 percent stake in Green Eco Nickel operated by China's battery material producer GEM in the Southeast Asian country, the company said in a statement. The Green Eco Nickel factory, located on the island of Sulawesi, processes 20,000 tons of nickel a year. In November, EcoPro invested $86 million in a nickel smelting facility, located in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, with an annual output capacity of 50,000 tons. EcoPro plans more investments in nickel processing factories in Indonesia to secure more of the core battery material for delivery to its affiliate EcoPro BM, which aims to produce about 200,000 tons of precursors using nickel by 2027. Another affiliate, EcoPro Materials, uses the precursors to produce cathodes, which are used in lithium-ion car batteries. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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