Lotte Aluminium Materials USA LLC will invest $238.7 million to build an aluminum foil manufacturing operation in Elizabethtown, Ky. The facility, which will create 122 full-time jobs, is expected to begin operation in 2025. The joint venture between Lotte Chemical and Lotte Aluminium will annually produce 36,000 tons of cathode foil, a type of ultra-thin aluminum foil that is a core material used in electric-vehicle (EV) batteries. Cathode foil is one of the four major components of lithium-ion batteries. It supports the cathode active material that determines the capacity and voltage of the secondary battery and, at the same time, serves as a passage for electrons.

Lotte Aluminium and Lotte Chemical are subsidiaries of Lotte Group, one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea, with over 90 business units employing more than 80,000 people. The facility, located on 40 acres in the T.J. Patterson Industrial Park, will be the company’s first aluminum foil facility in the United States. Company leaders anticipate demand for cathode foil to increase by an average of 32% annually by 2030.

Since June 2020, Kentucky has seen over $8.5 billion in EV-related investments, with over 8,000 full-time jobs announced.