Korea Energy & Battery: 2026 tax reform plan formalizes AMPC for made-in-Korea batteries, wind, AI robots and chips

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

Asia Pacific Equity Research

06 August 2026

Korea Energy & Battery

2026 tax reform plan formalizes AMPC for made-inKorea batteries, wind, AI robots and chips

According to local media, the Korean government has proposed an “IRA-style”

domestic production tax credit for batteries, solar and core materials. The policy

has been discussed since July 2025 (note), but this is the first release of

comprehensive details. The plan is scheduled to be submitted to the regular

National Assembly session on 3 September 2026. If passed, it would take effect

from 1 January 2027 through 31 December 2036. We expect the policy to

improve made-in-Korea production economics and help Korean battery

makers ramp up domestic plant utilization and win Korean battery/solar market

share (historically mostly imported from China). As shown in Figure 2, we

estimate that LGES has scope to ramp up 10-15 Gwh of production, SK Inno 15-20

Gwh and SDI 13-14 Gwh, representing 5%, 45% and 15% of JPMe 2027

shipments, respectively. We continue to prefer battery cell > battery materials

in Korea. We expect the policy to benefit Korean battery cell > solar > wind/

nuclear > battery materials, with the impact on AI robots too early to quantify.

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About Korea’s domestic production credit policy: Korea’s Ministry of

Economy and Finance (MOEF) unveiled the 2026 tax reform plan on 3 August,

introducing a new domestic production tax credit for six strategic sectors:

semiconductors, solar, wind, secondary batteries, core materials and AI robot

components. Similar in structure to the US Section 45X Advanced

Manufacturing Production Credit (AMPC), the credit is calculated by

multiplying production volume by a per-unit credit (to be set/announced in

Feb-27). The annual credit will be limited to the lesser of: (1) 50% of annual

production costs; or (2) 50% of the cumulative capex for the production

facility, minus any domestic production tax credits previously claimed.

How to qualify, and which products qualify: Eligibility requires both: (1)

domestic production – core processes carried out in Korea and a certain % of

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