■ The Green Loan signing ceremony, attended by SKIET CEO Kim Cheol-jung and IFC Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific, was held on May 24

■ The first case of Green Loan from IFC funding being allocated to an overseas subsidiary of a Korean manufacturing company

■ SKIET CEO Kim Cheol-jung said, “SKIET will continuously enhance its corporate value by establishing a successful global supply system”

SK IE Technology (SKIET), a producer of lithium-ion battery separators for secondary cells, is quickly moving to secure substantial investment for the construction of a global production base, having secured a large amount of funding from the International Financial Corporation (IFC), which affiliated to the World Bank Group.

On May 24, SKIET announced that it had held the Green Loan signing ceremony for a total of USD 300 million (approximately KRW 400 billion) at the Fairmont Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, attended by SKIET CEO Kim Cheol-jung and IFC’s Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific Riccardo Puliti. Out of the total USD 300 million, USD 200 million is sourced from IFC’s own funds, while USD 100 million is obtained through participation from private banks.

As IFC is the world largest development finance institution, they facilitated approximately USD 32.8 billion (KWD 43 trillion) of private sector investment and loans for over 100 countries last year.

The USD 300 million that SKIET has secured is slated to be invested in the expansion of the lithium-ion battery separator (LiBS) production plant currently under construction in Silesia Province, Poland. SKIET has established a subsidiary in Poland (SKBMP) and built the first LiBS production plant in Europe in 2021. Currently, No. 1 Plant is operating and the construction of Plants No. 2 to 4 underway.

The construction of those plants is planned to be completed by 2024. Upon the completion, production plants from Plants No. 1 to 4 are expected to produce 1.54 billion m2 of LiBS, the largest production capacity in Europe. This is equivalent to the separator production capacity required for the batteries installed in approximately 2.05 million electric vehicles (EVs).

SKIET operates separator production plants in South Korea, China, and Poland, and is also planning to enter the North American market considering the US’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). By using the loan from the IFC as an opportunity, the company plans to proceed smoothly with the funding needed for its entry into the North American market along with the expansion of its plants in Poland.

Chief Financial Officer of SK IE Technology, Oh Taek-seung, said, “It is very significant that we have received official approval from the IFC under the World Bank after undergoing rigorous scrutiny over a year, including submitting documents and conducting on-site inspections since last May.” He added, “Based on this as a foothold, we expect that we will be able to secure additional funding from policy finance and private finance more smoothly when needed in the future.”

This is the first time that Green Loan from IFC funding has been allocated to the overseas subsidiary of a Korean manufacturing company. The IFC expects that supporting the expansion of SKIET’s EV battery separator production facility in Poland can contribute to meeting the rapidly increasing demand for EV batteries in Europe as well as to achieving the Green Transition, such as reducing carbon emissions in the transportation sector.

Riccardo Puliti, IFC’s Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific, said, “The transition to Net Zero offers an unprecedented investment opportunity. IFC research shows that the demand for electric vehicle batteries in the EU alone will increase from 30 GWh currently to 1,300 GWh by 2035. Our impactful partnership with SKIET will help address this rapidly growing demand by building a more resilient regional electric vehicle value chain,” and he added, “We are keen to work with Korean innovators like SKIET to transfer technological know-how and scale up climate actions in emerging markets.”

CEO of SK IE Technology Kim Cheol-jung said, “SKIET has proactively established a supply system that quickly responds to customer needs, such as successfully establishing global production bases in Korea, China, and Europe.” He added, “Based on the fundraising from IFC, we will be able to smoothly proceed with our entry into the global market in the future and continuously enhance our corporate value, while contributing to the development of the EV ecosystem in Europe.”

[Photos]

(Photo 1) CEO of SK IE Technology Kim Cheol-jung (left) and IFC’s Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific Riccardo Puliti (right) take commemorative photo after the Green Loan signing ceremony held at the Fairmont Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul on May 24.

(Photo 2) Panoramic view of SKIET’s production base, operated by the company’s overseas subsidiary SK hi-tech battery materials Poland, in Silesia Province, Poland.