SK Innovation said Wednesday that it will finalize its plans to build a battery plant for electric vehicles in China this year.

“The company plans to transform its business portfolio to focus on more lucrative businesses such as EV batteries and noncommodity products,” said CEO Chung Chul-khil at a press meeting in Seoul.

The company needs to innovate its business structure as its traditional oil-refining sector repeatedly faces low growth, excessive supply and economic recession, he added.

As for the EV battery business, he said the company would continue to focus on the Chinese market as the Beijing government has a strong willingness to boost the EV industry to address the environmental issue and to capitalize on it as a new growth engine.

“We are reviewing building a factory for EV batteries in China this year, and discussing the plan with our Chinese partners,” Kim Hong-dae, who leads the EV battery cell business at SK Innovation, told reporters, adding, “Although we cannot disclose the details now, we will soon tell you good news.”

Korea’s third-largest battery-maker said it aims to bag the No.1 spot in China by 2017, calling the nation “a very important market.”

SK Innovation was the first Korean battery-maker to enter China in 2013 and it currently has a higher market share than its domestic rivals Samsung SDI and LG Chem. The company is supplying its batteries to electric vehicles EV200 and ES210 from BAIC Group, one of China’s four major automakers, in the form of a joint venture.

When asked about the competition with the two other Korean battery-makers, CEO Chung said nobody knows who would be winner at the end as the EV market is still at a nascent stage.

“The electric car market is like a 42-kilometer marathon course and we are still at the starting line,” Chung said.

SK Innovation also plans to push for global partnerships and mergers and acquisitions in the battery sector as well as noncommodity products.

The company said that its subsidiary SK Global Chemical, whose de facto headquarters was moved to China early this year, is actively pushing for acquisition of small-but-strong companies and a joint venture with global companies.

The company has already partnered with Saudi Arabia’s chemical manufacturing company SABIC and China’s petrochemical corporation Sinopec. It also set up a joint venture BESK Technology with China’s state-owned automaker BAIC Group.

The oil refiner, which is slated to announce its quarterly earnings on Friday, is predicted by market analysts to post more than 80 percent growth in operating income thanks to the recovery of international oil prices and improved refining margin.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)