South Korea's largest AI data centre on the anvil
Seoul:
SK Group
, a South Korean chip-to-construction conglomerate, said on Monday it plans to build the country's largest artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in partnership with
Amazon Web Services
(AWS).
The two companies are expected to launch the project later this month and hold a groundbreaking ceremony in August, according to industry sources.
"They have been working on the project, but the exact timeline and other details have yet to be finalised," an SK Group spokesperson said, reports Yonhap news agency.
The facility will be located in the Mipo industrial complex in Ulsan, 305 kilometers southeast of Seoul. It will house 60,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) and have a power capacity of 100 megawatts, making it the country's first AI infrastructure of such scale, the sources said.
Ryu Young-sang, chief executive officer (CEO) of
SK Telecom
Co., had announced the company's plan to build a hyperscale AI data centre equipped with 60,000 GPUs in collaboration with a global tech partner, during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 held in Spain in March.
SK Telecom plans to invest 3.4 trillion won (US$2.49 billion) in AI infrastructure by 2028, with a significant portion expected to be allocated to the data centre project.
AWS, a subsidiary of Amazon, provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and application programming interfaces (APIs) to individuals, businesses and governments on a pay-per-use basis.
Meanwhile,
LG Energy Solution
, South Korea's leading battery manufacturer, said on Monday it has secured a deal with China's Chery Automobile Co. to supply cylindrical electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Under the deal, LG Energy Solution will supply a combined 8 gigawatt-hours of its next-generation 46-series cylindrical batteries to Chery Automobile over the next six years. The volume is enough to power approximately 120,000 EVs, according to the company.
The value of the contract was not disclosed but industry observers estimate it to stand at around 1 trillion won (US$730 million).
The supply is scheduled to begin early next year, with the batteries to be installed in Chery's flagship EV models.
The 46-series cylindrical batteries offer over five times the energy capacity and output of conventional cylindrical cells, and are known for their high production efficiency.
LG Energy Solution said the deal has proven the excellence of its proprietary nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM)-based 46-series battery, which outperforms lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in cold temperatures and charging efficiency while also delivering superior energy density.
The two companies plan to expand their partnership to include additional EV models across the Chery Group.
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Q) Which sectors are likely to remain in limelight in the 2H2024? A) We are bullish on BFSI, with the recent RBI rate cut we can expect strong liquidity. There is scope for penetration for financial services, credit growth is growing strong. Supported with slight improvement in demand, we should see this sector giving another strong year. We are also taking positive calls on Defence fulled by governments efforts to have a self-sutainable defence industry and reduce the dependency on imports. The order pipeline here looks solid and defence production is projected to reach from Rs. 1.75 Trillion in FY25 to Rs. 3 Trillion in FY 29. The ministry of defence has already singed a record 193 contracts worth Rs. 2 Trillion. Out of these 177 contracts were handed to domestic companies, this shows the governments commitment of making India a defence manufacturer in their own right. Infrastructure and related sectors are also looking bullish, policy support is on their side particularly in the areas of renewable energy and power generation. Big infra companies will continue to benefit from India's growing infra need in Roads, Airports, Dams and Railways. Q) The tonality keeps changing from the US when it comes to 'Trade Talks'. Do you think it is still a relevant headwind for equity markets across the globe? A) In our view, US trade talks were never a major factor for equity markets in India. Yes, they played a role for equity markets across the globe, but for India it never posed a very big problem. There was a lot of stir created early on when the tariff wars started but soon it was realised that it was more of a bargaining stunt to get the stakeholders on the table to negotiate rather than a permanent change of structure in the global trade ecosystem. My only point of concern is FII inflow into our equity markets. While our DIIs have been a major support, we can't ignore the validation that comes from FIIs and the quantum of their capital that ensures Indian equities are in green. Trade Talks create a little uncertainty that results in institutional money being kept at bay, that's the only relevant headwind I think that matters. Q) China equity markets are up in double digits while we have underperformed most EM peers. Does it make a case for global diversification? A) China equity in recent times have outperformed all the other EMs. This is a little ironical seeing how the main target of US trade wars is China, and their companies are facing an uphill battle in case tariffs are increased substantially. I would still refrain from considering the Chinese stock market as an investment destination. The main reason being the opaqueness of the country and the dictatorial laws that can be brought down by the government onto the private sector. Inspite of giving double digit returns, the 3-yr performance of China based Mutual funds is still as low as 2%. For global diversification I think US tech stocks are a better bet. With AI changing the face of computing, I think the biggest beneficiaries will US companies who are the biggest stakeholders. Historically as well, US companies are at the center of every digital / computer revolution that has happened and I don't see why it should be any different now. Q) Which sector(s) is/are looking overheated and why? A) In Indian markets, I think one can be cautious while investing in Auto. FY25 saw a modest growth of 6.4% driven by passenger and two wheelers while the commercial vehicles growth remained flat. We have seen an impressive performance over last 24 months with increased sales across all verticals but going forward I think it's a little over heated. Also, the EV industry is giving the sector some headache, while most auto companies have installed EVE capacities, consumer acceptance of EV is not growing at a desirable pace. Adoption has been slow and due to EV related lack of Infra it is not expected to pick up very soon. We are also expecting a cyclical slowdown in sales, only silver lining are the SUV sales which continue to grow but other passenger vehicles along with two wheelers are looking bleak. ( Disclaimer : Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
