South Korea’s three leading battery manufacturers—LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI—operated at roughly half of their production capacity during the first half of 2025, according to industry disclosures, as Chinese competitors expand rapidly in the global electric vehicle market.
LG Energy Solution reported an average utilization rate of 51.3 percent across its global plants in the first six months of the year, down from 57.8 percent in 2024 and 69.3 percent in 2023. The company produced approximately 10 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in battery products over this period.
SK On’s overall capacity usage stood at 52.2 percent, improving from 43.6 percent in 2024 but still well below the 87.7 percent achieved in 2023. The South Korean firm noted that its U.S. manufacturing facilities, which supply batteries for Hyundai Motor’s local assembly lines, ran near full capacity as the automaker scaled up U.S. production.
While Samsung SDI did not release an aggregate figure for its electric vehicle battery division, it revealed a 44 percent utilization rate for its small-battery segment. Third-party estimates place the company’s total production usage at around 50 percent. The firm’s European plants operated at an estimated 30 to 40 percent capacity in the first quarter before gradually recovering in the second quarter, and its joint U.S. facility with Stellantis ran below 60 percent in the first half.
Market data from SNE Research shows that global battery deployment for EVs outside China grew 23.8 percent year-on-year in H1 2025. Despite this, the combined market share of the three Korean producers fell by 8.1 percentage points to 37.5 percent. LG Energy Solution and SK On recorded modest growth of 2.2 percent and 10.6 percent, producing 43 gigawatt-hours (GWh) and 19.6 GWh respectively, while Samsung SDI saw a 7.8 percent decline.
In contrast, major Chinese manufacturers expanded more rapidly: CATL and BYD grew battery usage by 33.2 percent and 153 percent, and three other Chinese firms in the global top ten posted over 30 percent annual growth.
To bolster competitiveness, Korean companies have increased R&D spending. Samsung SDI led with 704 billion won (11.1 percent of sales), up from 7.8 percent a year earlier. LG Energy Solution allocated 620 billion won (5.2 percent of sales), and SK On invested 148 billion won (0.52 percent of sales) in research and development during the same period.
Source: The Korea Herald
