IS Dongseo invests in Lithion – plants planned in Quebec and South Korea

South Korean conglomerate IS Dongseo has reached an agreement of an exclusive business right for the use the Canadian startup Lithium Recycling's lithium-ion battery recycling technology on the Korean market. As a part of the agreement IS Dongseo has secured an ownership of 5% in Lithion by participating in the Korean venture capital fund IMM Investment Global in a capital raise that may provide Lithion with as much as C$125M ($99M).

IS Dongseo is a construction company which just like its competitor on the construction market GS E&C has decided to enter the lithium-ion battery market. In April 2021 the company participated in Asterian Investment's acquisition of TMC from Chinese Huayou Cobalt which gave the company a position in the material recovery business with access to sales channels to the large battery material companies.

The plan is to set up a 7,500 tpa pre-processing plant in South Korea followed by a hydrometallurgical plant with an output of 15,000 tpa of battery grade materials. In total IS Dongseo plans to invest 300bn won ($250M) in material recovery and other components in the lithium-ion battery end-of-lfe value chain.

Moreover Lithion will set up a similar plant of similar size and capacity in Quebec where also a technology development center will be established. The funding will also be used to complete a study of a hydro metallurgical plant in Quebec.

Except for TMC IS Dongseo has invested in several companies in car recycling and waste water treatment which both may be used to set up a complete value chain in the lithium-ion battery market.

Lithion's goal is to commission over 25 battery recycling plants based on Lithion’s technology in the next 15 years in cities and jurisdictions where the need is most urgent.