Moderator: ELEC CEO Han Joo-yeop
Appearance: Reporter Lee Soo-hwan of The ELEC
-Reporter Lee Soo-hwan, what are you going to talk about today?
“There is one piece of news that has heated up the industry for two days. Isn’t Ford working with CATL to build a factory in the United States to avoid IRA?”
– is that so? Explain in detail what it is.
“There has been a lot of news already.”
-Still, there are people who do not watch the news and only watch this video.
“This is my personal opinion, but to be honest, I think China has been thinking a lot about different ways to avoid the IRA. In the past, CATL has knocked on the door of many to enter the United States somehow, and we have also said that a factory in Mexico could be built as one of the possibilities. In this case, Ford, not a joint venture, takes 100% of the shares, but all the technology behind it has been provided by CATL, so as soon as this news came out , another news came out with another addition. The best selling pickup truck in the United States, and among them is the Ford F series, and the news that the F150 electric truck has stopped production came out and Ford officially said that it was a battery problem this, and shortly before that, Ford and SK The On and Turkiye’s joint venture went bankrupt, and a series of these events, three overlapping events, really heated up the industry.”
-What is the conclusion?
“There is something we said last week, and at the end, we said there is some possibility that Korea will become the leading base for China’s battery industry.”
– You talked for a while.
“I told you about this possibility.”
-For the purpose of avoiding the IRA?
“There is also the purpose of avoiding the IRA, but in fact, the IRA also has a part about battery materials, but basically the parts about equipment and facilities are missing. Nevertheless, the relationship between the United States and China is very bad. To put it simply, it is difficult to move from Made in China to Made in USA directly to the United States, so I chose a third country as a diversion, and among them, Korea, which has an established infrastructure for the battery . industry, the first target came. I would like to tell you today.”
-Today’s title is ‘Why are you seeking entry into Korea for the Chinese battery back industry?’ For starters, it means there are a lot of takeaways from here and the purpose of avoiding an IRA, right?
“sure. As I mentioned earlier, Korea has an established infrastructure for the battery industry. First of all, it is geographically close. In addition, various local governments have foreign investment zones and incentive systems. Also, there are part where our companies decided to choose a Chinese battery equipment company in the US and receive their equipment. But the company that comes out here is SK On again. Isn’t there a Blue Oval SK? It is a joint venture between Ije Ford and SK On in the United States, and all the equipment and facilities companies have been selected. Among them, the forming and charging and discharging of electricity were ordered by a Chinese company called Hangkekeji.”
– is that so? At that time, did you not say that you might not be able to receive the prohibition order?
“The purpose was to avoid the IRA, but after that, we wrote this article as a follow-up. “
– Did you make up for it well? sorry
“One of the stories that came out at the beginning was that there were some signs of growing bigger. Because at the beginning of last year, as Hangkekeji put 100% charging and discharging equipment in SK On’s Hungarian Ivan Te factory and its second plant in Yancheng, China, there was no possibility of that for Blue Oval SK then, but on the other hand, ‘this There is also an opinion that it would be realistically difficult because it is a joint venture with an American company and a battery factory to be built on American soil.”
-You said that time.
“As seen in the case of the Ford CATL battery factory, there were tricks by leaving various back holes open, and such tricks by opening the back door and leaving the back door open, one of which was mentioned as a joint venture with SK. on making battery tools in Japan. At the end of last year, there were some talks about sending it to Blowball SK. After that, now that we have found out, it seems that at least five Chinese equipment companies are trying to do business by setting up a new joint venture or a new corporation in Korea. “
-Where are you?
“First of all, it’s anti-kirk. We will secure a factory here in Korea, make equipment in Korea, and ship it to the United States.”
-So you’re saying you’ve secured the site now?
“I thought I had secured the site at first too, but it seems the current factory has been held as a joint venture rather than an acquisition.”
– Who are you with?
“This is a bit sensitive. It is a listed company, but I think we have met the conditions well by working together with this company.”
-Is the joint venture also a battery equipment company?
“It’s not a battery equipment company, but it’s a battery-related listing accident.”
-Is it good for the company?
“That will be nice. It must have been good terms. Now Chinese companies have to make equipment in Korea and ship it to the United States.”
– If you buy a joint venture, do Korean companies have more benefit?
“I don’t know. However, with various conditions, rather than the stake itself, I got a partner in Korea anyway. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with doing business with China, but that’s the current atmosphere. In any case, Korea may get uncomfortable stares for contributing to the development of China’s battery industry downstream.”
-Don’t hang up, where else are you?
“We call him Leading Intelligence, Usirid Intelligent, which we have mentioned many times before. This company was already established in Korea several years ago. We have a branch in Korea. There is a branch office, but it hasn’t been able to get such clear results so far, so it seems we are looking for several joint ventures that can work with them.”
– Where is the other place?
“There’s a place called Lyric Robot.”
-It is difficult to name Chinese companies.
“There are companies that are doing well in China. For example, in the case of laser, there is a company called Hans Laser in China. It is a very good company when it comes to lasers. Not only industrial lasers, but also industrial and high-tech industrial lasers. Like Coherent in the United States or Trump Laser in Germany, it is the most technological and volumetric company recognized in China in terms of lasers. Some of the companies I mentioned are holding the biggest battery exhibition in Korea called InterBattery next month, right? There are companies that are also part of it.”
-Anyway, if you build a production plant in Korea, then whether it’s through a joint venture or on your own, isn’t it that you’re going to produce here and ship it to the US or elsewhere?
“you are fine.”
-Then, what about domestic appliance companies? Some people may have wondered why, because of the IRA, if Chinese companies lost money on things related to the United States, the reflection could come to Korea.
“I think we should consider this. At the beginning, I told you about a company called Hangkekerji, but in a short time, I have a history of supplying equipment to a Korean company, for example, the LG Energy Solutions Poland plant. Also, in China, I put tools in companies like SK and CATL, and my skills rose very quickly in a short time. The problem with this is that while there are obvious differences in our battery cell technology, there is no difference between us and China in terms of various elements of the downstream industry, be it facilities or equipment, or rather, we behind compared to China. in terms of cost competitiveness That this once existed. The fact that SK On chose to use China’s anti-kerchief this time was not just because the price was cheap. I wrote it because I was so good at it.”
-Yes. As long as the price is right…
“Of course. So, in Korea, if the competition has been between Korean companies and equipment companies in the past, now we have to consider competition with Chinese companies in Korea. From a P&E point of view, you cannot win orders by make huge losses. If there is not much difference in technology, in the end, all that is left is the price, and if China attacks from behind with great prices with a lot of goods from its motherland , it will be a very unfair competition for Korean companies.”
– ok.
“Isn’t the display equipment industry such a case?”
– Aren’t these companies that can’t even invest in stocks because of competition? Now, what about Hangkekeji, Inkekekeji, Usirid Intelligent, etc.
“I’ll give you an example. Let me tell you about EcoPro. Ecopro is the leader in Korea. Our goal for sales this year is 10 trillion won. There are many people who invest in Ecopro stocks for cathode materials, and EcoPro has various cathode material technologies well, but among them, there was a weak point when starting the business. That was the predecessor technology. It’s a technology for precursors and waste batteries.”
-But you are doing precursors right now.
“The technology is called GEM China. That’s the technology I got from that GEM. Even now, a corporation called Ecopro GEM exists. “
– That wasn’t the technology you brought, was it a collaboration?
“We did a collaboration. After making a joint venture, we secretly delisted GEM, reduced the stake through a paid-in capital increase, and changed the name to EcoPro Materials.”
-I see what you mean.
“So there are definitely things that China is good at. Specifically, in relation to battery materials, for example, the same applies to companies we call Longbai in China and Jaeseungwon in Korea. Aren’t you going to make a large-scale investment in Korea, take cathode material, and recycle waste precursors or batteries? When it comes to this technology, especially when it comes to technology related to recycling or precursors, China is at a significant level. “
-Anyway, if you make something in this country and go abroad, it will be caught as an export. Production will also be held here.
“In addition, the effect of stimulating the economy and the effect of employment will certainly occur.”
– It is not easy to see it as a very bad thing. It’s funny to judge value, but…
“This problem arises because the United States is the target, but in fact, it is very difficult to resolve the conflict between the United States and China in a short time. What is clear, however, is that we need to look carefully at what we are lacking in and what we are good at because we are good at doing it. So, you don’t have to unconditionally wear colored glasses just because it’s China, but it seems you need to quietly judge how they move. “
-I will do it here today. Thank you
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