SK On secures natural graphite from US’ Westwater

Market: Battery materials, Metals
13/02/24

South Korean battery manufacturer SK On has secured the option to source natural graphite anode products from US-based mineral company Westwater Resources through a conditional offtake agreement.

The expanded partnership comes after the two firms agreed last year to jointly develop anode materials that will be customised for SK On's batteries.

SK On will be able to source 34,000t of natural graphite anode products processed by Westwater at its Kellyton graphite processing plant over 2027-31, SK On said on 13 February. SK On plans to use the anode products for its battery plants in the US.

Westwater late last year raised the phase 1 planned production capacity of its Kellyton plant by a third to 10,000 t/yr while maintaining a phase 1 cost estimate of $271mn. But it slowed the plant's construction activity while it seeks to secure financing to fund the balance of the estimated capital requirements, which it said will affect the construction timeline. Westwater previously said it anticipated first production from the plant's phase 1 in the first half of 2024.

South Korean battery firms LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI accounted for 48.6pc of global battery installations excluding China in 2023, down by 5.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to data from South Korean market intelligence firm SNE Research.

SK On saw its market share slip to 10.7pc from 13.4pc a year earlier with growth of 14.4pc from a year earlier to 34.1GWh, the weakest growth among the three South Korean battery firms. Its parent SK Innovation earlier this month said it expects a "transient slowdown" in profitability for January-June 2024, which will increase in the second half of the year because of stabilised new plant yields and battery prices.

By Joseph Ho

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