Solus Advanced Materials has decided to become the first company from the battery copper foil industry to target the North American market with Toyota Tsusho Corporation.
Solus Advanced Materials announced on Monday that it exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Toyota Tsusho Corporation regarding establishment of a joint venture in North America that will be in charge of manufacturing and selling battery copper foils for electric vehicles (EV).
The two companies will look into building a battery copper foil production plant with annual production capacity of 30,000 tons by 2024. They have decided to have additional discussions regarding selection of site and investments in facilities.
Toyota Tsusho possesses a global logistics network by pushing for supply of materials and parts for various products including cars.
Solus Advanced Materials and Toyota Tsusho plan to maintain their strategic partnership in regards to optimization of production process, development of next-generation technologies, and supply and demand of raw materials and sharing of sales offices in order to grab an upper hand in the North American market.
Automakers need to obtain at least 75% of key materials and parts locally in order to receive the customs-free benefit from the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) that is scheduled to take effect in July. Due to the spread of protectionism, level of preference towards supply of battery copper foil by North American automakers is expected to rise even more.
“Signing of the MOU is very meaningful from a standpoint that our company’s unrivaled technologies and global competitive edge have been recognized.” said CEO Seo Kwang-byeok of Solus Advanced Materials. “Not only we will be able to create synergy with Toyota Tsusho, but our companies will become a good example of establishing a stable EV ecosystem.”
By entering the North American market, Solus Advanced Materials plans to rapidly diversify its customers. Battery copper foils manufactured by the joint venture will be supplied to North American automakers and battery manufacturers that have their branches set up in North America.
Staff Reporter Kim, Jiwoong | jw0316@etnews.com