LG Chem constructing world’s largest single-line carbon nanotubes manufacturing plant

In South Korea, LG Chem is expanding its investment in carbon nanotubes (CNT) with the construction of the world’s largest single-line CNT manufacturing plant. The new plant is part of LG Chem’s initiative to gain a more competitive edge in the rapidly growing global CNT market focused on electric vehicle (EV) battery materials. 

The new facility will be LG Chem’s fourth CNT plant, following Plant 3 which started construction early this year and Plant 2 which has been operational since last year. The new plant will be built in LG Chem’s Daesan Complex, located 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul, with construction commencing in the first half of next year and operation beginning in the second half of 2024. 

CNT is a next-generation material offering the equivalent level of electricity and thermal conductivity as copper and diamond and 100 times the strength of steel. Due to its excellent properties that surpass existing materials, CNT has an infinite range of applications in batteries, semiconductor wafer trays, automotive components, and surface heating elements. The global CNT conductive additive market is expected to grow by 30 percent to USD 2.3 billion contributing to the demand of CNT increasing from 5,000 tons in 2021 to 70,000 tons by 2030.

The 3,200 tons of CNT produced at Plant 4 will contribute to LG Chem’s total carbon nanotube production capacity of 6,100 tons across four plants. LG Chem has been operating CNT plants since 2017, starting with 500-ton production at its CNT Plant 1, and has been building new plants every year since 2020 to meet growing demand.

Thanks to the company’s fluidized bed reactor technology, each production line at all four of LG Chem’s CNT plants can produce up to 600 tons on an annual basis, the highest single-line capacity in the world. The CNTs produced at the plants are also high-quality as LG Chem’s self-developed cobalt-based catalysts help lower magnetic impurities which may negatively affect battery quality. Production capacity per capita at LG Chem’s Plant 4 is expected to be 20 percent higher than its other plants due to efficiencies related to improved reactor stability and process automation.