On April 27, LG Chem announced that it will invest approximately 65 billion won (about 374 million yuan) by the first quarter of next year to increase the output of its carbon nanotube (CNT) plant in Lishui City 1200 tons. Once the expansion is completed, the total production capacity of LG Chemical's carbon nanotubes can reach 1700 tons.
CNT is a new generation of materials, with electrical and thermal properties comparable to copper and diamond, but 100 times stronger than steel. Because its performance is better than existing materials, it has a wide range of applications, and can be used in batteries, semiconductors, auto parts, and aircraft fuselages.
LG Chem said that this expansion is aimed at the global electric vehicle market and the CNT market. Recently, due to the use of CNT as an anode conductive additive for lithium ion batteries, the market has grown rapidly.
Compared with the current use of carbon black as an anode conductive additive, the use of CNT can increase the conductivity by more than 10%, and can reduce the use of conductive materials by 30%, and the anode can be filled with the required materials to increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries , Extend its service life.
Due to the above characteristics, it is expected that by 2024, the demand for CNT will increase rapidly at an average annual rate of about 34%, and the annual production capacity will increase from 3,000 tons last year to 13,000 tons. Therefore, as a global leader in electric vehicle batteries, LG Chem plans to use CNT lithium-ion batteries to further enhance its product competitiveness.
In addition, LG Chem also plans to provide CNTs to global IT materials companies and terminal car manufacturers in North America, Europe and China, and gradually increase sales. In 2022, it will resume its expansion plan.
Through this investment, LG Chem can accelerate the implementation of a product structure upgrade strategy based on its superior technology to enter the petrochemical industry.
LG Chem has developed the world ’s largest fluidized bed reactor, built a large-scale production system, and actively uses the existing CNT powder and various products such as compressed CNTs that are convenient for customers to actively target the market. In addition, LG Chem also plans to study a variety of new uses of CNTs, such as a complete set of templates for large-scale molds in the construction industry, semi-conductive layers used in high-voltage cable jackets, high-strength concrete for construction, etc. To the market.