L&F Plus has secured raw materials for next-generation LFP cathode materials. L&F Plus, a subsidiary of L&F, said on Sunday it signed an MOU with Hyundai Steel on cooperation to supply iron oxide for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials.

The two companies agreed to cooperate on supplying iron oxide used to make LFP cathode materials. L&F Plus plans to use the supplied iron oxide to develop LFP cathode materials using a precursor-free process. The company said the agreement secures a raw material supply base needed for development.

The precursor-free process makes cathode materials by reacting iron oxide, a byproduct of the steel industry, directly with lithium and phosphate materials. It skips the iron phosphate precursor production step in the existing LFP cathode process. L&F Plus plans to use the process to raise efficiency and cost competitiveness and to diversify procurement, which had been centered on precursors.

L&F Plus is developing the technology with a target of mass production in the first quarter of 2028. It is also pursuing a plan to secure space for mass production inside an LFP plant. Because it is a next-generation process with a high degree of technical difficulty, the company will focus on securing product performance and manufacturing competitiveness and will gradually expand mass-production application depending on development and verification results.

L&F Plus is a wholly owned subsidiary of L&F responsible for production and sales of L&F's LFP cathode materials. It began mass production with annual capacity of 30,000 tons at the end of the third quarter this year and is supplying multiple customers for energy storage systems (ESS) in North America. It plans to have production capacity of up to 60,000 tons a year by the first half of 2027 and to address the ESS and entry-level electric vehicle markets with third-generation LFP cathode materials with compact density of 2.50 g/cc or higher.

Kwon Hyuk-won (권혁원), head of L&F Plus' Production Technology Division, said the agreement was meaningful in that it set up a foundation for cooperation on supplying raw materials needed to develop the next-generation precursor-free process. He said the company will continue to push to expand mass-production capability for LFP cathode materials and to advance raw material and process technology, and will respond to global customer demand by securing differentiated product competitiveness and stable supply capability.