SK Innovation announced in October that it will officially operate a separation membrane plant in Changzhou, China.
According to a Korean media ETNews report, SK Innovation’s subsidiary SK IE Technology began construction of a separation membrane plant with an annual production capacity of 340 million square meters in March last year and was completed in August this year. After 3 months of commissioning, it was put into mass production recently.
Changzhou Separation Membrane Plant SK IE Technology's first overseas production base. Separation membranes are directly produced in China, which is the main global market for electric vehicles, in order to respond to market demands more quickly.
After the opening of the Changzhou plant, including the separation membrane plant with an annual production capacity of 530 million square meters in Zengping, Chungcheongbuk-do, the total production capacity of SK IE Technology's separation membrane will increase to 870 million square meters.
SK IE Technolog plans to successively deploy overseas factories invested in China and Poland by 2023.
It is estimated that by the end of next year, the production capacity will reach approximately 1.37 billion square meters, and by the end of 2023, the production capacity will reach 1.87 billion square meters. In addition to the above-mentioned active investment, SK IE Technology is also able to manufacture high-end separation membranes "sequential extension", "Ceramic Coated Separation Membrane" (CCS) and other technical competitiveness. The goal is to become a global wet separation membrane by 2025. The market occupies the first position in the world.
Roh Jae-suk, the president of SK IE Technology, said: “Securing a global production base in China, which is the world`s largest electric vehicle market, can improve business competitiveness in the global separation membrane market,” adding that “not only electric vehicles but also battery-related industries. Both are growing rapidly. The company will stabilize the supply of separation membranes and contribute to the ecological development of related industries while achieving the development and growth of the company`s business."