It plans to list in 2020. "Major automobile companies are interested in our products," he said, without naming the automakers. He added that battery companies and Posco, a South Korean steelmaker, are interested in getting into the recycling business too. The scarcity is unlikely to abate anytime soon, as China, the world's biggest user of metals, snaps up mineral resources in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile. SungEel HiTech, based in the south-western city of Gunsan, can process about 8,000 tonnes per year of spent lithium-ion batteries and metal scraps. From that, it can produce about 830 tonnes of lithium phosphate, 1,000 tonnes of cobalt metal equivalent and 600 tonnes of nickel. The company, however, is smaller than foreign competitors such as China's Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium and GEM; and Belgium's Umicore.