LS Electric (006260.KS) will invest 250 billion won to expand "LS Electric Utah," its core US switchgear production base. The move aims to gain an early lead in the US power infrastructure market, where demand is surging explosively amid the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) data center construction.
LS Electric said Tuesday that it had completed a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of production facilities at "LS Electric Utah," located in Cedar City, Utah.
This expansion is a large-scale project that adds 66,115 square meters (about 20,000 pyeong) to the existing 13,223-square-meter (about 4,000-pyeong) production facility, expanding the production facility roughly sixfold to a total of 79,338 square meters (about 24,000 pyeong). It targets the start of operations in early 2027.
LS Electric plans to build high-end power solution production facilities in the US and secure large-scale production capacity (CAPA). Once the new plant is completed, the switchgear production capacity at the LS Electric Utah site will expand to about 500 billion won per year, giving the company manufacturing infrastructure to respond nimbly to North American power equipment demand.
Earlier, to strengthen its North American power distribution business, LS Electric invested $6.3 million (about 7.7 billion won) in 2022 to acquire "MCM Engineering II," a local switchgear manufacturer. Through a first expansion in early last year, it completed a second plant, tripling production capacity, and changed the company name to LS Electric Utah this year.
Through the second expansion, LS Electric aims to make LS Electric Utah a North American strategic hub that comprehensively performs design and research and development (R&D) functions tailored to local customer needs. As demand for power equipment has reached an all-time high amid the combination of America's aging power grid replacement projects and the growth of the AI industry, the strategy is to expand US market share by leveraging LS Electric Utah's "all-in-one complex hub" capabilities.
LS Electric posted 1.2 trillion won in revenue from North American Big Tech companies through June this year. The figure already surpasses last year's results of 800 billion won.
"By building an 'all-in-one' complex facility where product planning, development, and manufacturing take place in one location, we will gain the competitiveness to respond more quickly and flexibly to demanding local requirements," an LS Electric official said.
