U.S. immigration authorities detained more than 300 Koreans at the construction site of a joint battery plant by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution in Georgia, raising concerns that Korean battery corporations' management of yield at plants they operate or are building in the United States may be in jeopardy.
In the battery industry, yield is directly linked to revenue. The average yield in the battery manufacturing industry is reported to be between 80% and 85%, while the yield of global market leader China's CATL and Korean companies is known to be more than 90%. The industry believes that a yield of over 90% is necessary to supply batteries stably.
The problem is that raising battery yield is not easy. Batteries, made by synthesizing various chemicals, may not produce the same performance even when assembled with identical parts and equipment. The operational experience and know-how of the operators handling the equipment, along with environmental changes such as local temperature and humidity, affect yield.
An industry insider said, "Batteries synthesize chemicals at a micro level, so the management of thickness and capacity's standard deviations must be strict." Another insider noted, "Batteries go through at least four to five processes, such as making chemicals into slurry for coating and rolling; even slight changes in pressure and temperature can create differences in structure. It's necessary to have experts who have operated the equipment for a long time, but it's difficult to train experts locally in a short period."
The plant LG Energy Solution completed in Poland in 2018 took more than a year to achieve a yield of 90%. The yield at LG Energy Solution's second plant in Tennessee, which was completed in March last year, surpassed 90% within a month of operation.
The recent mass arrests of domestic personnel at the Georgia plant are expected to disrupt efforts to increase yield. To work in the United States, individuals must obtain a work visa, which has stringent issuance requirements; until now, employees have traditionally taken turns going out on tourist visas to share their know-how. Until now, the U.S. had not raised major objections to this.
However, undergoing the formal process to obtain a visa and enter the United States will take a long time, and there is no guarantee that all visas will be issued. There are also concerns about the possibility that those detained will not be able to enter the United States again.
An industry insider said, "It takes a long time to train local personnel hired directly in the U.S. as skilled workers. If it takes a long time to raise yield, it ultimately increases the burden on corporations," and added that, "Both countries must negotiate amicably to resolve visa issues so that Korean experts can work in the United States."