South Korean battery materials leader, EcoPro Innovation, has announced a significant four-year agreement to supply lithium hydroxide to a major global automaker. This landmark deal will provide sufficient battery materials to power approximately 200,000 electric vehicles (EVs).
This unprecedented agreement, encompassing 12,000 metric tons of critical lithium hydroxide, signifies EcoPro Innovation’s first direct supply contract with a global automaker, bypassing traditional battery cell manufacturers. Due to strict confidentiality agreements, specific financial terms and the identity of the automaker remain undisclosed.
Prior to this, EcoPro Innovation had already established long-term lithium hydroxide supply agreements with prominent Korean battery makers, including Samsung SDI (signed in 2024) and SK On (signed in 2025).
Lithium hydroxide is an essential raw material, crucial for producing high-nickel cathodes used in high-performance electric vehicle batteries.
EcoPro Innovation attributes the successful securing of this contract significantly to its strategic production base in Debrecen, Hungary. The company’s robust regulatory compliance capabilities, bolstered by an innovative closed-loop system for lithium recovery and reprocessing, also played a pivotal role.
The ability to locally process and supply lithium from its Hungarian facility provides EcoPro Innovation a distinct advantage in meeting the stringent requirements of Europe’s Critical Raw Materials Act. This crucial EU legislation aims to secure localized and sustainable supplies of critical minerals vital for the burgeoning EV and clean-energy sectors.
An EcoPro Innovation official stated, “While traditionally, lithium hydroxide procurement was handled by battery cell manufacturers or cathode materials producers, this global automaker highly valued our superior quality, competitive pricing, and proactive response to global regulatory demands, resulting in this direct agreement.” The company intends to leverage this significant achievement as a strategic foothold to aggressively expand its global customer base, particularly across the European market.
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