L&F accelerates the establishment of a battery recycling value chain by making a strategic investment in CIS Chemical, which possesses technology to recover 98% of lithium carbonate. This move aims to simultaneously stabilize the supply chain based on recycled materials and enhance ESG responsiveness amidst the trend of tightening domestic and international regulations on the circular economy.

L&F announced on the 30th that it signed a strategic investment agreement with CIS Chemical at its headquarters in Daegu on the 29th. The signing ceremony was attended by executives from both companies, including L&F CEO Heo Je-hong, CFO Ryu Seung-heon, and CPO Jang Seong-gyun, as well as CIS Chemical CEO Lee Seong-oh and Vice President Kim Young-man.

This investment is a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on LFP (lithium iron phosphate) and NCM (nickel, cobalt, and manganese) recycling signed by the two companies last May.

L&F plans to secure a stable volume of LFP and NCM post-processing by leveraging CIS Chemical's recycling processing capabilities, and to jointly respond to customer recycling demands by receiving priority allocation of LFP recycling CAPA within 2027.

In addition, they announced plans to pursue Joint Development Assistance (JDA) in key areas, such as the development of high-purity mixed hydroxides (Clean-MHP) to reduce cathode material costs and LFP re-materialization technology, and to expand cooperation on national projects.

CIS Chemical has achieved a lithium carbonate recovery rate of 98% through its own developed process and is reported to have completed verification of its LFP recycling technology by major domestic customers.

With the number of domestic companies commercializing LFP post-processing limited, L&F plans to strengthen its waste cathode material and black mass (BM) recycling business in conjunction with its subsidiary, JHC, through this collaboration.

Group-level cooperation is also being carried out in parallel.

It announced plans to expand synergies between affiliates by pursuing cooperation in the scrap processing of spent LFP cathode materials by subsidiary L&F Plus and the supply of cathode material additives (such as cobalt hydroxide and boric acid) by Saronix.

Changes in the regulatory environment It served as the background for this investment.

Last April, the "Act on Support for Fostering the Used Battery Industry and Stabilizing the Supply Chain" was passed in the National Assembly, and the EU is also fully implementing a system to mandate the use of recycled materials.

Heo Je-hong, CEO of L&F, said, “Through cooperation with CIS Chemical, we will strengthen the competitiveness of the recycled raw material supply chain and build a recycling value chain that can proactively respond to customer demands.”