SK Innovation, South Korea’s largest oil refiner and chemical supplier, says it is having talks with several companies about jointly establishing an EV battery factory in China.

“An investment announcement will likely be made in the near future,” said Chief Executive Chung Chul-khil, adding that the joint venture in China may be with a battery maker or an auto maker.

A spokesman said the new manufacturing facility might be built with existing partners or others. SK already has a battery joint venture with China’s state-run Beijing Automotive Group and Beijing Electronics. Rivals LG Chem and Samsung SDI also have Chinese plants.

SK has been actively expanding its cell production capacity in South Korea to meet growing demand. It is expanding capacity at its local plant by a third to supply 40,000 EVs per year. The company’s customers include Kia and BAIC, and it recently inked a deal with Daimler.

Source: Wall Street Journal