Strategy of Critical Materials on the Li-Ion Battery Industry of Korea

Demand for Li-ion secondary battery (LiB) drastically increases by the explosion of Electric vehicle (EV) market. The major supplier of LiB is limited in China, South Korea and Japan account 91.8% for over the world in 2022. Supply chain of LiB to EV manufacturer tackled by physical limitation of producing capacity, supply instability of core minerals and geopolitical control of trade.<br/>In these reasons, securing a superior position in the global market with high technology and mass production capacity is critical point of industry.<br/> We introduce how Korean government and companies set up strategy to resolve critical issues in energy industry for securing critical materials (CRMs), especially LiB.<br/>Recently announced ‘Secondary Battery Industry Innovation Strategy’ by Korean government will explain and emphasize example of securing supply chain of CRMs in LiB by (1) formation of Korea team to secure core minerals domestic resource and (2) develop new recycling technology from company in South Korea. Because importance of establishment a sustainable battery circulation system (closed-loop) for recycling waste lithium ion batteries is urgently need to guarantee alternative resources supplying CRMs in Lib industry.<br/> In the last part, we define and discuss the concept of materials flow/business flow applied to CRMs in LiB energy industries. Different aspects of supply risk beyond scarcity will be brought into the discussion through examples of regulation and of geopolitical risk.<br/>We conclude with careful speculation about the roles of resilience and adaptation in future risks analysis, drawing on the perspective global market trends.