SK Innovation Co., Ltd. () is an intermediate holding company of

SK Group SK Group (Korean: SK그룹, 에스케이그룹) is the second largest South Korean chaebol behind Samsung Group. SK Group is composed of 186 subsidiaries and affiliates that share the SK brand name and the group's management culture, named SKMS ( ...

engaged in

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

alternative energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a Orders of magnitude (time), human timescale. It includes sources such as Solar power, sunlight, wind power, wind, the movement of Hydropo ...

, and

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

. It runs its business through eight major subsidiaries, including SK Energy, SK Geo Centric, SK On, SK Enmove, SK Incheon Petrochem, SK Trading International, SK IE Technology and SK Earthon.

History

SK Energy was established in 2007 by splitting South Korea's top refiner SK Corporation into an energy operation and holding company. SK Energy handled the energy and chemical businesses, while

SK Holdings SK Inc. () is a holding and IT services company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company is divided into Investment Division and Business Division. The Investment Division operates as a holding company engaged in petroleum, telecommunica ...

was in charge of investing in subsidiaries and the life science sector. SK Innovation was created through a restructuring of SK Energy in 2011. The original SK Energy has renamed itself SK Innovation after spinning off its

oil refining An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

lubricants A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...

, and

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

businesses. In the beginning, SK Innovation has set up three fully-owned units, including SK Energy (a newly founded company operating crude oil refining business), SK Lubricants, and SK Global Chemical. After two years, SK Innovation spun off SK Energy's Incheon refinery complex and oil trading division and launched SK Incheon Petrochem and SK Trading International. In 2019, the company decided to spin off its material division and established SK IE Technology. On 1 October in 2021, SK Innovation officially completed the spin-off of its battery business, which is called 'SK On'. In the first half of 2022, SK On is ranked fifth in the world with a market share of 7 per cent according to SNE research.

Controversies

In 2019, South Korean

electric vehicle battery An electric vehicle battery (EVB, also known as a traction battery) is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). Typically lithium-ion batteries, they are spec ...

manufacturer

LG Chem LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 10th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2017. It was first established ...

sued SK Innovation with the

U.S. International Trade Commission The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislature, legislative and executive (government), executive branches on matters of trade. It is an indepe ...

(ITC) for misappropriation of

trade secrets Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily as ...

by hiring former employees. LG Chem requested the import ban to the U.S. for SK Innovation's

lithium-ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

and infrastructure technology from the ITC. The ITC sided with LG Chem and issued a limited 10-year exclusion order prohibiting imports into the United States of some lithium-ion batteries by SK Innovation. In the end, SK Innovation agreed to pay LG Chem $1.8 billion in cash and royalties to avert the import ban.

References

External links

* {{Authority control South Korean companies established in 2007 Companies listed on the Korea Exchange South Korean brands SK Group subsidiaries Battery manufacturers Electric vehicle battery manufacturers

History

Controversies

See also

References

External links