LG Chem plans to build a new battery plant - paper

SEOUL, April 5 (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Chem Ltd (051910.KS) is set to build its new electric car battery plant in the country, a local newspaper reported.

Korea Economic Daily said in its Wednesday edition that the firm's capacity for battery production would expand faster than initially planned if LG completes construction of its third local plant next year.

LG Chem plans to boost its annual production capacity at its Korean car battery plant sevenfold to 60 million cells by 2013, with investment of $887 million by that year. [ID:nTOE6AC005]

The company is believed to announce its plan this month, the paper added.

The global leader in electric car batteries, which began operations of its Korean battery plant in June, has clinched a slew of battery orders from automakers, most recently Renault (RENA.PA). (Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)