EcoPro Innovation, a unit of EcoPro (086520.KQ), will supply a global automaker with lithium hydroxide sufficient for approximately 200,000 electric vehicles. It marks the company's first supply contract with an automaker rather than a battery manufacturer.
EcoPro Innovation said Wednesday it has signed a four-year contract to supply 12,000 tons of lithium hydroxide to a global automaker. After signing long-term supply deals with Samsung SDI and SK On in 2024 and 2025, respectively, the company has now successfully diversified its customer base into the automotive industry this year.
The company's local production base in Debrecen, Hungary, and its regulatory compliance capabilities based on a closed-loop system are seen as having played a positive role in winning the order. Processing and supplying lithium directly on the ground makes it easier to comply with the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The company's ability to recycle lithium also proved decisive ahead of the full-scale implementation of the battery passport system.
EcoPro Innovation said it expects momentum to build behind its earnings recovery. The company posted revenue of 95 billion won in the first quarter of this year and continues to maintain profitability as its earnings improvement trend persists. According to the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation, the price of lithium hydroxide stood at $21.9 per kilogram on the 20th of this month, rebounding to 2.8 times the 2025 low recorded in June.
"Typically, cell manufacturers or cathode material makers procure lithium hydroxide directly, but the global automaker highly evaluated our quality competitiveness, price competitiveness, and ability to respond to global regulations, leading to a direct contract," an EcoPro Innovation official said. "Using this as a bridgehead, we will accelerate efforts to identify new global customers, including in Europe, by leveraging our local production base in Hungary."
