韓國SK在華電池廠停產(chǎn)

An electric vehicle battery plant in China jointly-owned by South Korean conglomerate SK Innovation has been closed since January, the company said, making it the latest South Korean battery maker to run into troubles in China as Beijing boosts domestic producers.

韓國企業(yè)集團SK創(chuàng)新(SK Innovation)稱，其在中國合資擁有的一家電動汽車電池廠從1月份關閉至今。這使該公司成為最新一家在北京方面促進國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)企業(yè)發(fā)展之際陷入困境的韓國電池廠商。

The company confirmed the halt in operations to the Financial Times on Friday, after local media reported the closure. The plant was a joint-venture with two Chinese companies in which SK Innovation owns a roughly 40 per cent stake. SK said its Chinese partners had decided to halt production but had not provided a clear explanation, write Tom Hancock and Kang Buseong.

在當?shù)孛襟w報道關廠的消息后，該公司周五向英國《金融時報》證實了停產(chǎn)的情況。該廠是與兩家中國公司合資組建的，SK創(chuàng)新?lián)碛屑s40%股權(quán)。SK稱，其中國合資伙伴決定停產(chǎn)，但迄今沒有提供清楚的解釋。

Trade tensions between South Korea and China have spiked in recent months over Thaad, a US-designed missile defence system being installed by Seoul, with Beijing pressuring South Korean businesses. But SK Innovation said “we don’t think that the decision is just because of China’s economic retaliation out of Korea’s Thaad deployment”.

韓國和中國之間的貿(mào)易緊張在近幾個月急劇上升，焦點問題是“末段高空區(qū)域防御系統(tǒng)”(THAAD，中文簡稱：薩德);首爾方面正在部署這種美國設計的導彈防御系統(tǒng)，而北京方面正向韓國企業(yè)施壓。但SK創(chuàng)新表示“我司不認為這一決定只是因為中國針對韓國部署薩德發(fā)起的經(jīng)濟報復”。

South Korean media reported that the China plant, which assembles battery cells produced in Korea, generates annual revenues of about Won50bn ($45m), and said the production halt was due to Chinese regulations favouring domestic producers, which slowed orders at the end of last year.

據(jù)韓國媒體報道，這家中國工廠把韓國生產(chǎn)的電芯組裝成電池，其年度營收約為500億韓元(合4500萬美元)。根據(jù)這些報道，停產(chǎn)是由于中國出臺了向國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)商傾斜的法規(guī)，導致去年底訂單放緩。

China last year released a list of companies allowed to supply batteries in the country which excluded foreign manufacturers. That has disappointed South Korea’s Samsung SDI and LG Chem, who both opened large battery plants in China in hopes of serving the country’s EV market — the world’s largest.

中國去年發(fā)布了允許在國內(nèi)供應電池的公司名單，沒有一家外國制造商被列入這份名單。這讓韓國的三星SDI(Samsung SDI)和LG化學(LG Chem)失望，這兩家韓資企業(yè)都在中國開設了大型電池廠，希望能夠為全球最大的電動車市場服務。

Meanwhile Taiwanese Apple assembler Foxconn announced this week it would invest approximately $145m for a 1.2 per cent stake in China’s fastest growing electric vehicle battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), in what it called a “long term investment”. The deal values the privately-owned company at about $12bn.

與此同時，臺資的蘋果(Apple)裝配商富士康(Foxconn)本周宣布，將投資約1.45億美元購得寧德時代新能源科技公司(CATL) 1.2%股權(quán)，作為一筆“長期投資”。寧德是中國發(fā)展最快的電動汽車電池制造商，這筆交易對這家非上市公司的估值達到大約120億美元。