L & F, a secondary battery material company, recently successfully signed a large supply order of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) worth about 1.6 trillion won. Although South Korean companies have entered the LFP battery market dominated by Chinese companies as latecomers to diversify their investment portfolios, this signing is the first large-scale supply contract reached by a non-Chinese company in the LFP materials field.

On the 24th, L & F announced that it has signed a medium-and long-term supply agreement with battery manufacturer Samsung SDI for LFP cathode materials. The contract, worth approximately KRW 1.6 trillion, covers three years of confirmed supply from 2027 to 2029 and includes supply options for an additional three years. As the first large-scale LFP cathode material supply agreement signed by a global non-Chinese company, this move has extremely high strategic value in the context of the global battery supply chain gradually getting rid of dependence on China.

With this cooperation, L & F and Samsung SDI will fully enter the North American renewable energy and data center energy storage system (ESS) market. As the first non-Chinese company, L & F launched a new investment project for LFP cathode materials in August last year and successfully locked in a supply contract within about half a year. At present, the company is building a production facility with an annual output of 60000 tons in two phases.

The first phase of the project has a production capacity of 30000 tons and is scheduled to be completed in April this year. After trial production and customer testing, it is expected to be fully put into mass production in the third quarter of this year. Taking this contract as an opportunity, L & F will deepen its collaboration with Korean battery companies to help the domestic battery industry enter the North American LFP energy storage market.

In response to the expansion of the North American ESS market, Korean battery companies have shifted their existing power battery production lines to energy storage business to meet the growing demand for data center energy storage in the region. The plan focuses on the LFP cathode material market with growth potential in the future. Liu Chengxian, Chief Financial Officer of L & F, said: "Our company is currently the first company to realize mass production of LFP materials outside China." He added: "We are actively expanding supply cooperation with Korean battery companies, overseas vehicle manufacturers and global ESS companies, which will help maintain the company's continued growth." In addition, he also revealed: "the company has developed strategic growth initiatives, including the allocation of supply to customers and the expansion of new production lines."