Dongwon Systems (014820) will establish manufacturing facilities for cylindrical battery cans and cathode foil in North America, key materials for secondary batteries. The company set an aggressive target to double sales every two years by actively targeting the North American energy storage system (ESS) market.
Jung Yong-wook, CEO of Dongwon Systems' secondary battery business division, outlined this vision in an interview with Seoul Economic Daily at InterBattery 2026 on the 11th. This marks the company's first overseas production base.
Dongwon Systems will sequentially establish facilities for cylindrical battery cans and cathode foil. "The location for the cylindrical battery can facility has already been determined and significant progress has been made," Jung said. "We plan to complete construction this year by bringing equipment from Korea and finish customer quality testing next year."
Regarding the cathode foil plant, he noted it "will be larger in scale than the cylindrical battery can facility," adding that "we are currently scouting locations and aim to conduct customer testing by next year."
The North American expansion targets the growing ESS market. At this InterBattery exhibition, Dongwon Systems unveiled Korea's first coated cathode foil. This product coats conventional aluminum foil with carbon-based material to dramatically improve adhesion of cathode active materials, enhancing performance of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries favored for ESS applications.
Dongwon Systems has installed two coated cathode foil production lines at its Asan, South Chungcheong Province plant and will begin mass production this year. The company has reportedly secured all three major Korean battery makers as customers, with first revenue expected as early as this month.
Jung expressed confidence that expanded investment will drive the secondary battery division's sales to double every two years from the current 120 billion won level. "We don't use Chinese raw materials, eliminating tariff uncertainty for U.S. exports," he said. "Once U.S. investment is complete, our business scale will expand significantly."