South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co. said Thursday it has began its test run of a cathode-producing factory, jointly set up with a local cathode manufacturer.

The EcoPro EM factory, located in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will conduct the test run until the end of this year before starting the mass-production of cathode from the first half of next year.

Cathode is a key component that determines the capacity and average voltage of a lithium-ion battery.

Samsung SDI and EcoPro BM formed the 60:40 joint venture last year to build the 49,000-square-meter factory with an annual production capacity of 36,000 tons of next-generation high nickel cathode, enough to be installed on 400,000 electric vehicles.

The entire output will be supplied to Samsung SDI. (Yonhap)