Doosan starts construction of EV copper foil plant

South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group has started construction of an electric vehicle (EV) copper foil plant in Hungary to capitalise on rising demand for battery materials.

The plant in northwest Hungary’s Tatabanya industrial park is scheduled to be completed next year. It will have capacity to produce 50,000 t/yr of battery copper foil, enough to supply power packs for about 2.2mn EVs.

Doosan, which entered the copper foil business by buying Circuit Foil Luxembourg in 2014, aims to gain a proximity and cost advantage by building its plant in Hungary. South Korean EV battery producer SK Innovation is building its second plant in northwest Hungary, where it will have combined production capacity of 17 GWh/yr. LG Chem has a battery factory in Poland, where it is expanding. South Korea’s other EV battery producer Samsung SDI also has a plant in Hungary.

Doosan sees demand for battery copper foil rising 13-fold by 2025. An affiliate of SK this year agreed to buy KCF Technologies, a producer of copper foils and flexible copper clad laminates used primarily in EV battery cathodes, for 1.2 trillion won ($1bn).