By Kwanwoo Jun


SK Innovation Co. and its battery-business affiliates rallied Friday, a day after signing a joint-venture deal to bolster its global nickel supply chain.

Shares in the South Korean energy company jumped as much as 6.2% to 179,500 won ($135.18), as those in its battery-separator affiliate SK ie technology Co. surged up to 11% to KRW70,000. The benchmark Kospi was 0.1% lower in later afternoon trade.

The rally came after SK On Co., an unlisted electric-vehicle battery maker wholly owned by SK Innovation, signed a memorandum of understanding with its local and Chinese partners Thursday to jointly build a nickel-and-cobalt production factory in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The joint venture, if set up, would produce 30,000 tons of mixed hydroxide precipitate--a nickel-and cobalt-cointaining intermediate product that can be used in batteries--annually from the second half of 2024, according to South Korean battery-materials supplier Ecopro Co., which teamed up with SK On and Chinese battery-materials recycling company GEM Co. for the project in Indonesia.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-25-22 0155ET