Tesla Supplier LG Chem Largest EV Battery Maker In H1 Globally: Report

South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. LGCLF was the largest electric vehicles battery supplier globally in the first half of 2020, according to data from SNE Research.

What Happened: The company's sales rose 83% to 10.5 gigawatt-hours in H1, catapulting the battery maker to the top spot, SNE Research said, as reported by Bloomberg on Monday.

The company reaped benefits from an escalation in demand for Tesla Inc’s TSLA Model 3 vehicles in China and Renault SA’s RNLSY Zoe model, the report noted.

Among other Korean battery makers, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd SSNLF group firm Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. saw a 35% and 66% increase in sales respectively.

Why It Matters: The overall Korean battery market benefited from increased demand for electric vehicles in Europe, even as global sales declined 23% due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic, as per SNE Research.

Chinese and Japanese battery makers saw a decline in sales with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. sales falling 28% to 10-gigawatt hours and Panasonic Corp’s PCRFY falling 32% to 8.7-gigawatt hours.

LG Chem is a major battery supplier for EVs in the United States, and it's also helping Tesla grow its battery production capacity in South Korea.

The Seoul-based company said last week that it expects sales and profitability to remain robust due to demand in Europe but didn't mention Tesla, Reuters noted.