Umicore and Chungnam Province sign Memorandum of Understanding on Umicore’s Cheonan battery materials plant
Umicore and Korea’s Chungnam Province have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as part of Umicore’s earlier announced plans to expand the production capacity of its battery materials plant in Cheonan and the Province’s aim to strengthen the region’s advanced materials and technology sectors.
At its Capital Markets Day in March this year, Umicore announced it would increase the production capacity of high-nickel cathode active materials for electric vehicles at its Cheonan plant. Under the MoU, the Province expects to provide administrative support and incentives.

The signing ceremony took place on July 24 in Paris, France, with key attendees including Kim Tae-Heum, Governor of Chungcheongnam-do Province, Kim Seok-Pil, Acting Mayor of Cheonan City, and Matt Cherevaty, Senior Vice President Operations & Refining of Umicore’s Battery Cathode Materials Business Unit.
Established in 1999 at Cheonan’s Foreign Industrial Complex, Umicore became the first company in Korea to produce cathode active materials for lithium-ion batteries. Umicore has expanded its battery materials activities ever since and today operates three battery materials plants as well as Umicore’s largest battery materials R&D center in Cheonan. Umicore also manufactures battery materials in Europe and China.
“This Memorandum of Understanding builds on the long-term partnership and industrial collaboration between Chungnam Province and Umicore. We are proud to contribute to the region’s economic activity through our earlier announced battery materials capacity expansion and our top-notch research and technology innovations, serving our global customers,” said Park Sang-hoon, Managing Director of Umicore’s Battery Cathode Materials Business Unit in Korea.