South Korea's power battery exports to the US surge

Due to insufficient domestic supply, the United States' imports of electric vehicle batteries have grown rapidly, among which South Korea's battery exports to the United States are also growing rapidly.

According to BusinessKorea, from January to May this year, domestic electric vehicle sales in the United States reached 224,000 units, an increase of 150% over the same period last year. According to data from the Korea International Trade Association, the United States imported US$2.949 billion worth of lithium-ion batteries during the same period, a year-on-year increase of 75%.

Among the top 10 countries exporting the most batteries to the United States, South Korea, Malaysia and Poland saw their exports increase by more than 100% year-on-year. South Korea exported $828 million worth of batteries to the United States, more than its total exports for the whole of 2010. Malaysia and Poland are home to lithium battery factories of South Korean giants Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solutions, respectively.

In contrast, the supply of batteries from the United States remains tight. Last year, a large number of electric vehicle batteries produced in the United States were exported to Canada and Mexico. However, this year, the export of electric vehicle batteries from the United States has declined for the first time.

Currently, only Panasonic and LG Energy Solution operate large-scale EV battery factories in the U.S. SK Innovation's plant in Georgia and a joint plant by GM and LG Energy Solution are scheduled to start operations next year.