South Korean battery materials manufacturer EcoPro has completed construction of its cathode material plant in Debrecen, Hungary, and is beginning commercial production.
The site, spanning approximately 440,000 square meters, houses EcoPro BM, which produces cathode materials; EcoPro Innovation, which handles lithium processing and EcoPro AP, which produces industrial oxygen and nitrogen.
The facility, which has an annual production capacity of 54,000 tons of cathode material, enough to produce 600,000 EVs, forms the basis for EcoPro’s plans to target the European market, leveraging its ability to respond to the region’s regulations. The company has set a target to expand the plant’s capacity to 108,000 tons in the future.
The Innovation building will produce 8,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually, while the AP building will produce 16,000 cubic meters of oxygen per hour.
EcoPro plans to produce high-nickel ternary cathode materials, such as nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) and nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), starting in 2026. It also plans to expand its portfolio to include mid-nickel and low-priced products, such as LFP, in response to customer demand.
“Thanks to the Hungarian government’s full and swift one-stop support, we have completed the first local production base for a Korean cathode materials company in Europe in just three years since groundbreaking in 2023,” said EcoPro founder Lee Dong-chae. “The completion of the Hungarian plant is a new beginning for EcoPro and Europe to create the future together at a time when the landscape of the European EV industry is rapidly changing.”
EcoPro expects the Hungarian cathode materials plant to attract interest from cell manufacturers and automotive OEMs, coinciding with the implementation of the European Core Materials Act (CRMA) and the UK-EU Trade Agreement (TCA). Secondary battery cell manufacturers such as Samsung SDI, SK On and CATL, as well as global automakers like BMW, have established and operate production facilities in Hungary.
The cathode materials produced at the Hungarian plant are expected to be price-competitive, as they will contain nickel sourced from a smelter in Indonesia in which Ecopro has invested.
Source: EcoPro
