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| LS Cable & System (LS C&S) CEO Koo Bon-kyu, left, and Hammerer Aluminium Industries CEO Rob van Gils pose after signing an agreement to establish a joint venture at LS Yongsan Tower in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of LS C&S |
By Park Jae-hyuk
LS Cable & System (LS C&S) and Austria's Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI) signed an agreement to invest a combined 67.5 billion won ($53 million) in their establishment of a joint venture that will start the production of battery cases and other electric vehicle (EV) components made with light-weight, high-strength aluminum from 2025, the Korean company said Friday.
Taking advantage of their respective experience, which has been acquired in Korea and Europe, both companies plan to make inroads into the market for aluminum auto parts.
LS C&S expects the joint venture to generate around 200 billion won in sales in 2027.
The LS Group affiliate has supplied high-strength aluminum components for the production of Hyundai Motor and Kia vehicles using internal combustion engines. Based on the establishment of the joint venture, the company aims to focus more on producing components for EVs.
"We have sought to reform our business model by shifting our focus to renewable energies and EV-related businesses," LS C&S CEO Koo Bon-kyu said. "As we expect the aluminum market to grow rapidly in line with the supply of EVs, we have increased our investments to dominate the market in advance."
HAI is known as the world's leading company in aluminum components for EVs. It has supplied its products to Daimler and BMW through its factories in four European countries including Austria and Germany.
CEO Rob van Gils of the Austrian firm said that his company chose LS C&S to secure advanced technologies that are needed to supply EV components.
LS C&S expects its affiliate, LS Alsco, to benefit from the recent partnership, as it is Korea's only company whose aluminum material was assigned an alloy number by the U.S. Aluminum Association, and as it has supplied its new high-strength aluminum materials for the production of EVs and wind power generators.
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