The foundation stone of South Korean company Doosan’s copper foil production plant was laid on Tuesday. “The Government has provided 4.7 billion forints (EUR 14.5 million) in non-returnable funding to assist the investment project, which is being realised at the industrial park in Tatabánya at a cost of 31 billion forints (EUR 95.3 million)”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told reporters at the event.

The Minister added that the plant, which is creating 181 new workplaces, will be producing 50 tons of copper foil-a-year one it reaches full capacity. “This quantity is enough for the production of the batteries for 2.2 million electric vehicles”, he added.

Mr. Szijjártó highlighted that investments on the part of South Korean enterprises are breaking records, explaining that during the first half of this year South Korea was Hungary’s largest foreign investor with a sum of 350 billion forints (EUR 1.1 billion). “This is the first time in five years that the number one spot with relation to investment value and the number of new jobs for the first two quarters has not been occupied by the Germans, and South Korea was in first place”, he said, adding that trade flow between the two countries increased by 50 percent in 2018 and by a further 41 percent during the first six months of 2019.

The Minister also spoke about the fact that demand for the copper foil used in electric vehicles is continuously increasing, with market demand currently standing at 75 thousand tons-a-year, but according to estimates this number is expected to increase to 975 thousand tons by 2025. The investment could make Doosan the primary supplier to the European market.

President of the Doosan Corporation Hyungsoo Dong told the press that the role of the three South Korean plants is determinative with relation to the world’s 10 manufacturers of batteries. In view of the fact that copper foil can oxidise prior to shipping, the company group’s Hungarian plant will be supplying its prospective clients with its most modern product shipped from the closest possible facility, he explained. The plant will be constructed on a 144-thousand-square-metre site. The location enables the capacity of the plant to be doubled at a later date and produce 100 thousand tons of copper foil each year, the company president continued.

Member of Parliament János Bencsik (Fidesz) pointed out that the development of Tatabánya’s industrial park began 25 years ago and today, in addition to the automotive industry, state-of-the-art representatives of the world’s healthcare, environmental and plastics industries are all present in the area.

Doosan, which was founded in 1896, achieved 17 billion dollars in turnover in 2017 and employs 38 thousand people in 37 countries. In 2014, Doosan acquired a one hundred percent share of copper foil manufacturer Circuit Foil Luxembourg.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)