By Kwanwoo Jun


Samsung SDI Co. shares rallied Friday following the completion of a new, large battery-materials joint-venture plant in South Korea that will begin production next year.

Shares in the South Korean battery manufacturer rose as much as 7.8% to 635,000 won ($443.87)--the biggest percentage gain in more than a year, according to FactSet.

The stock was recently 6.3% higher at KRW626,000, still outperforming its local peers. The broader benchmark Kospi index was up 0.2%.

Samsung SDI's advance came as the company and its joint-venture partner, Ecopro Co., completed what they said is the world's largest single cathode material plant in terms of production capacity in the southeastern industrial city of Pohang.

The new factory, run by the Samsung SDI-Ecopro joint venture, can produce 54,000 metric tons of cathode materials used to make batteries annually and will start production in the first quarter of 2023, Ecopro said.

The joint venture's total cathode production capacity will rise to 90,000 tons a year, it said.

Samsung SDI supplies batteries to electric-vehicle makers including Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Volkswagen AG and Tesla Inc. as well as tech giant Samsung Electronics Co.

The battery maker is set to post above-consensus earnings for the third quarter despite business uncertainties, as it has managed to pass on higher raw-material prices to its customers on solid demand, Hyundai Motor Securities said in a recent note.

The brokerage maintains its buy rating and KRW1,000,000 target price on the stock.


Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-21-22 0004ET