Gu Ja-eun's Electric Vehicle Business in Full Swing... LS and L&F Begin Construction of 120,000-ton Precursor Plant in Saemangeum

Establishment of 'LS-LNF Battery Solution'
Strengthening Secondary Battery Value Chain... Fostering 'Battery, Electricity, and Materials'

Gu Ja-eun, chairman of LS Group, is accelerating the pace of the battery, electric vehicle, and semiconductor (Battery-EV-Semiconductor) businesses. The company has decided to enter the precursor materials business for secondary battery materials.

On the 16th, LS Corporation announced that it will establish a joint venture (JV) called 'LS-L&F Battery Solution' (tentative name) together with L&F, a high-nickel cathode material specialist company.

The two companies plan to start construction of a precursor plant within this year, based in the Saemangeum Industrial Complex in Jeonbuk. They aim to mass-produce precursors by 2025-2026, with a production target of 120,000 tons by 2029. The investment in the business is expected to exceed 1 trillion KRW.

LS will hold a 55% stake, and L&F will hold 45%. The JV will launch under a joint management system. Through the JV, the companies plan to collaborate not only on precursor manufacturing and sales but also in nickel sulfate and recycling sectors.

An LS official stated, "We will respond to the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S.) and CRMA (EU Critical Raw Materials Act) through alliances between domestic companies," adding, "We hope this will be an opportunity to strengthen competitiveness in cathode materials and precursor fields and accelerate entry into overseas markets."

Koo Ja-eun, Chairman of LS Group. [Photo by LS]

Precursors are compounds made by mixing nickel, cobalt, manganese, and other elements. Lithium is added to precursors to produce cathode materials. Cathode materials are one of the four main components of batteries. They are used to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronic devices, and home appliances.

LS affiliate LS MnM will supply nickel sulfate to the joint venture. Nickel sulfate is produced through by-products from the smelting process, raw mining materials, and process scrap recycling. L&F will manufacture cathode materials using precursors received from the JV.

The two companies plan to build an electric vehicle battery value chain linking 'nickel sulfate → precursor → cathode material' by combining their strengths.

Chairman Gu announced in the group's 'Vision 2030' released last January that they would expand the Battery-EV-Semiconductor business. He said, "To develop LS into a CFE (Carbon Free Electricity) and future-oriented company, we will grow the Battery-EV-Semiconductor business."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.