South Korean Battery Makers Pitch White House About Disputed Georgia Factory -- Update

By Ben Foldy

A pair of South Korean battery makers made their pitches to the Biden administration about a disputed factory project under construction in Georgia seen as key to the electric-car plans of Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG.

SK Innovation Co. is looking for the White House to overturn a ruling by the Federal Trade Commission last month that the company said would cause it to abandon a $2.6 billion battery factory complex it had hoped to open later this year, according to a copy of a presentation made to officials last week and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The new complex, located northeast of Atlanta in Commerce, Ga., is expected to create 2,600 jobs and supply electric-car batteries to Ford and Volkswagen, SKI has said.

In the presentation given to administration officials, SKI also disclosed previously unreported plans to expand the factory complex by investing another $2.4 billion in the project and creating an additional 3,400 jobs by 2025.

Meanwhile, representatives of LG Chem met with administration trade officials Friday to make their pitch for preserving the ruling, according to people familiar with the discussion.

Write to Ben Foldy at Ben.Foldy@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 01, 2021 14:50 ET (19:50 GMT)

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