Ford Battery Partner Mulls South Korea Expansion After Clarity On US Green Subsidies: Report

Ecopro Group, a battery materials manufacturer and a supplier to companies like Ford Motor Co F and Samsung SDI Co., reportedly plans to expand its manufacturing in South Korea.
The decision comes in the wake of clarity about the U.S. climate bill, reported Bloomberg.
Ecopro has a 5.3 million-square-foot site in Pohang and is investing about $2.4 billion for 270,000 tons of cathode-active materials annually.
Ecopro is now considering an additional 7 million square feet site, the report added. The materials are to be used in electric car batteries.
The proposed site will house a battery recycling facility, and the total investment is expected to be 2 trillion won.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clarification issued by the U.S., cathodes and anode materials have been classified as critical minerals, providing relief to Ecopro to continue to produce in South Korea and supply automakers in the U.S.
The main essence of IRA is to reduce EV manufacturers’ reliance on foreign entities of concern in global supply chains.

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