A view of the BNSI smelter construction site in Sulawesi, Indonesia [Ecopro BM]
A view of the BNSI smelter construction site in Sulawesi, Indonesia [Ecopro BM]

Ecopro BM marked its 10th anniversary Saturday by sharing with employees the investment and technology milestones it has achieved alongside the capital markets. The announcement comes as the company works to complete a rights offering ahead of becoming a major shareholder in an Indonesian nickel smelter — a move framed as laying the groundwork for "another 10 years."

Through its internal communications channel Eco-Toktok, Ecopro BM identified four drivers behind its decade of growth: preemptive infrastructure investment, technology innovation, capital market trust and global production capacity expansion.

Ecopro, the parent company, was founded in 1998 in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province, as a two-person venture focused on environmental and battery materials businesses. In 2016, it spun off its battery materials division to establish Ecopro BM.

That same year, investment firm BNW invested 60 billion won ($38.6 million) in Ecopro BM. BNW Chairman Kim Jae-wook said he decided to invest boldly after hearing that Ecopro had the technology to supply NCA (nickel-cobalt-aluminum) cathode materials to Sony and Samsung SDI, adding that BNW dispatched not only capital but also personnel to support Ecopro's growth and build a win-win model between the capital markets and the company.

BNW recouped its investment when Ecopro BM listed on the Kosdaq in 2019. The three-year return reached 91 percent, making it a widely cited success story in the secondary battery sector.

With the proceeds, Ecopro BM completed its fourth cathode materials factory with a monthly capacity of 500 tons, ushering in an era of 1,000 tons per month. The fourth factory became the world's first to mass-produce high-nickel CSG (NCM 811), then a new battery material for electric vehicles. The company went on to develop "NCA 034" with 87 percent nickel content in 2018, doubling production capacity within a year and securing the No. 2 position in the global NCA materials market behind Japan's Sumitomo.

After listing on the Kosdaq in 2019 and raising 172.8 billion won, Ecopro BM used the funds as seed capital to secure a 50,000-pyeong (165,000-square-meter) site at the Pohang Yeongil Bay Industrial Complex, where it broke ground on its CAM6 factory.

Ecopro BM also expanded its global footprint. The company completed its Debrecen factory in Hungary with an annual capacity of 54,000 tons, bringing its total annual production to 270,000 tons. The Hungarian plant is expected to serve as a strategic hub for proactively meeting EU regulations that mandate the use of EU-produced cathode materials, including under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Critical Raw Materials Act.

Building on the latest fundraising, Ecopro BM plans to accelerate its investment in nickel smelting to strengthen its cathode materials competitiveness. Through its investment in the BNSI (Bahodopi Nickel Smelting Indonesia) smelter within Indonesia's International Green Industry Park, the company aims to secure resource sovereignty and build a battery supply chain that meets Non-Prohibited Foreign Entity requirements.

The BNSI smelter under construction in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is being developed through a joint venture with global partners including Indonesian state-owned mining company PT Vale Indonesia.

Ecopro and Ecopro BM plan to significantly increase their combined stake beyond the original plan, taking a 39 percent share as the majority shareholder to lead the nickel smelting project. Total investment costs are estimated at around 1.5 trillion won. Once the investment is complete, Ecopro will hold rights to procure 65,000 tons of nickel based on its smelter investment stake.

"The capital markets played a major role in Ecopro BM's rise as a global cathode materials company," CEO Kim Jang-woo said. "We will fulfill our responsibilities as a Kosdaq-listed company by continuing to enhance shareholder value."


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