With U.S. battery supply-chain regulations tightening, a South Korean cathode materials company has entered the North American defense market by promoting a non-China supply chain. L&F said on Tuesday it signed a mid- to long-term supply contract for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material with U.S. battery technology company Coreshell Technologies.

L&F said it has a non-China LFP supply chain that meets regulatory requirements including OBBB, which sets requirements for using U.S.-made minerals and components, and the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act. Based on this, it secured competitiveness in bids in regulation-sensitive industries including defense. It also said the scope of LFP cathode material applications, previously centered on energy storage systems (ESS), has expanded through this contract to mobility and defense.

Coreshell is a battery technology company headquartered in California that is developing a next-generation battery platform using U.S.-made metallurgical silicon. It has carried out technology verification and supplied samples to global automakers, and is expanding its business into electric vehicles, grid energy storage systems and defense. Through the contract, it has established a battery procurement system that excludes China-made materials from anodes to cathodes.

Jonathan Tan (조나단 탄), CEO of Coreshell, said, "This contract is an important milestone in realizing the 'non-China supply chain-based battery' strategy we have pursued." He said it established a foundation to reliably supply batteries that meet the highest level of regulatory compliance standards required by customers.

Seung-heon Ryu (류승헌), CFO of L&F, said, "Securing this North American customer is an achievement that once again shows that L&F's LFP business has a business foundation that can expand stably and continuously." He said, "Based on a two-track strategy spanning ultra high-nickel NCM and LFP, we will respond broadly from premium electric vehicles to the mass-market segment, and will continue to contribute to building a stable and competitive non-China supply chain required by global customers."

Meanwhile, L&F Plus, a subsidiary dedicated to the production and sale of LFP cathode material, was recently selected as a recipient of long-term, low-interest policy loan support worth 220 billion won from the National Growth Fund. The funds will be fully invested in facilities for an LFP-dedicated cathode materials plant. It plans to begin initial operations with capacity of 30,000 tons by the end of the third quarter this year and to build a 60,000-tons-per-year system by the first half of 2027.