Lotte Group will invest an additional 110 billion won ($84.8 million) in its EV battery materials factory in Hungary to double the production of anode foil used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries to meet the burgeoning demand for EVs in the European market.

According to the Lotte Group on Wednesday, the investment decision was made by Chairman Shin Dong-bin during his visit to Lotte Cluster in the Turtovanyeo Industrial Complex in Hungary, where Lotte Aluminum’s Hungarian plant is to be up and running in July.

The plant has an annual production capacity of 18,000 tons of anode foil, a key material to support anode elements that determine battery capacity and voltage.

In the complex, Lotte Aluminum’s plant is adjacent to Lotte Chemical and Solus Advanced Material plants. Lotte Fine Chemical and Lotte Aluminum invested 300 billion won in Solus Advanced Material. Lotte Engineering & Construction is developing the country’s largest logistics center near the complex.

Meanwhile, Chairman Shin promoted the Korean government`s efforts to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan during his visit to the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Global Summit held in Dublin, Ireland on Tuesday. His bid to host the expo in Korea continued when meeting with global conglomerate CEOs of PepsiCo, Proctor & Gamble, and Walmart among others.

By Hong Sung-yong and Minu Kim

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