“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, March 27 (Reporter Li Yu) Yesterday evening (March 26), Rongbai Technology announced that the company recently signed a “Memorandum of Cooperation” with SK On Co., Ltd. (hereinafter: SK On). The two sides will use their respective advantages to carry out comprehensive and in-depth cooperation in the field of ternary and lithium iron manganese phosphate cathodes, including but not limited to technical cooperation, product development and product sales.

Regarding the signing of the above agreement, Rongbai Technology stated, “Based on the results of cooperative development between the two parties, the company's product materials will be introduced to SK On and its end customers, which will help promote the large-scale application of the company's cathode related products in the power and energy storage markets of Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, and further enrich the company's global customer structure.”

The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter learned that previously, Rongbai Technology has established a technical cooperation relationship with SK On, and products have already been sent for testing.

However, it should be noted that Rongbai Technology also confessed in the announcement: “In the process of implementing the agreement, if affected by unpredictable or force majeure factors such as international political changes, market policy changes, and terminal demand adjustments, the agreement may not be implemented as scheduled or in full.”

As one of the world's leading power battery manufacturers, SK On was founded on October 1, 2021 and is a subsidiary of SK Innovation, a company under the SK Group in Korea. Its main business is to provide everything from research and development of batteries, components, BMS, and battery packs to technical support, as well as all product portfolios related to automotive batteries.

According to the 2023 Global Power Battery Report released by SNE Research, in 2023, the installed capacity of SK ON power batteries was 34.4 GWh, up 14.4% year-on-year from 2022, and the global market share was 4.9%.

The “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter noticed that in the context of the development of the globalization of the new energy industry, Rongbai Technology is based in South Korea to accelerate its global deployment to overseas markets such as Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea.

Among these, judging from the existing layout, Rongbai Technology has accelerated its layout in the Korean market.

On the one hand, Rongbai Technology is expanding its “circle of friends” in the Korean market. In addition to “holding hands” with SK On, Rongbai Technology announced the signing of a “Joint Research and Development Agreement” with LG Energy Solution, Ltd. (LGES) in February of this year. The two sides will carry out comprehensive and in-depth cooperation in the fields of materials such as lithium manganese iron phosphate, precursor-free cathode materials, and medium nickel high voltage, including but not limited to technology development, manufacturing, and product sales.

On the other hand, Rongbai Technology is increasing its production capacity layout and supply volume in the Korean market. Among them, in October of last year, Rongbai Technology said at the performance briefing that the company's construction and production capacity in Korea have successfully met the needs of many heavyweight overseas customers. Ultra-high nickel monocrystals have achieved product customization for overseas customers, and batch supply has been achieved, and development for overseas customers is progressing smoothly.

In terms of production capacity, on August 20 of last year, Rongbai Technology announced that it plans to invest in the construction of 40,000 tons of high-nickel ternary cathode materials and 20,000 tons of lithium manganese phosphate cathode materials in Chungju, South Korea, respectively. According to the announcement, the investment and construction of the high-nickel ternary and lithium manganese iron phosphate project is expected to complete the main construction in 2024, and test production will be carried out one after another in the first half of 2025.

Also in August of last year, Rongbai Technology said at the 2023 Global Strategy Conference that it will expand its Sanyuan cathode plant in South Korea, invest in a precursor+ smelter in South Korea, and establish a phosphate plant in the Korean market.

Looking back at the overall development of the enterprise, in terms of shipment volume, in 2023, Rongbai Technology shipped about 100,000 tons of ternary cathode materials, an increase of 11% over the previous year, and the global market share exceeded 10%. During this period, in line with the mass production and launch of 4,680 large cylindrical batteries, its ultra-high nickel 9 series products were shipped nearly 10,000 tons.

According to the 2023 annual results report disclosed by Rongbai Technology, during the reporting period, the company achieved operating income of 22.883 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 24.07%; net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 593 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 56.17%.

In March of this year, Rongbai Technology stated on the investor interactive platform that in 2023, the company's layered materials had achieved stable mass production and are about to be launched. At the same time, the company has completed the development of polyanionic sodium electrocathode materials and received orders from core customers in different market segments. The company plans to build a production capacity of 60,000 tons/year of sodium electrocathode in China by the end of 2025.