Preparations for the mass production of domestic LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cathode materials have entered the physical shipment stage. L&F Plus, a subsidiary of L&F, has entered the final verification process toward commercial mass production by shipping prototypes produced on Korea's first dedicated mass production line for LFP cathode materials.

L&F announced on the 3rd that L&F Plus shipped the first prototype produced on July 31st at the mass production line of its LFP dedicated factory in Dalseong-gun, Daegu.

The company explained that this volume is a product from the ramp-up process, and plans to begin full-scale mass production with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons at the end of the third quarter following customer evaluation and quality verification.

The prototype shipped this time is a high-density 3rd generation LFP cathode material with higher energy density compared to standard LFP.

L&F Plus stated that it complements the low energy density of existing LFP by developing products with a PD level of 2.50 g/cc or higher.

The plan is to expand the scope of application starting with ESS for power grids, followed by ESS for AI data centers, and then to affordable electric vehicles.

L&F Plus is a wholly owned subsidiary of L&F dedicated to the production and sale of LFP cathode materials.

A dedicated factory with a total investment of 338 billion won on a site of approximately 100,000 square meters was completed in May of this year, and in the same month, a 12-year long-term, low-interest loan worth 220 billion won was secured from the National Growth Fund.

In terms of customers, in March of this year, a mid-to-long-term supply contract for LFP cathode materials worth approximately 1.6 trillion won was signed with Samsung SDI, and recently, an additional supply contract was signed with the U.S. battery company CoreShell Technologies.

With over 90% of the global LFP supply chain concentrated in China, L&F's strategy is to proactively respond to demand from non-Chinese supply chains.

After mass production of 30,000 tons per year at the end of the third quarter, we plan to gradually expand production capacity to 60,000 tons per year by the first half of 2027 to meet the demand of the North American ESS market.br />
In addition, a circular economy system extending from raw material recovery to cathode material production is also being pursued in parallel, including the internalization of iron phosphate (FP) precursors and the development of precursor-free processes, the establishment of a precursor supply chain through LS-L&F Battery Solution (LLBS), and cooperation with CIS Chemical on LFP and NCM recycling.

Heo Je-hong, CEO of L&F, said, “We will respond to customer evaluations and quality verification without disruption and stably establish a mass production system. Based on a two-track strategy encompassing LFP and high-nickel NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese), we will respond to diverse demands in the EV and ESS markets while strengthening the competitiveness of our non-Chinese LFP supply chain to continuously expand our presence in the global market.”