Secondary Battery Company L&F to Invest 2.55 Trillion KRW in Daegu ... Establishing a 170,000-Pyeong Scale Cluster

Already Invested 1.1 Trillion Won

'Supporting the Growth of Korea's Leading Companies'

Daegu City and ‘L&F’ signed a new investment agreement (MOU) worth 2.55 trillion KRW, the largest ever investment in the region, on the 27th at 2 p.m. at the recently completed L&F Guji 3 Plant. The ceremony was attended by Hong Jun-pyo, Mayor of Daegu, Choi Su-an, CEO of L&F, and other officials.

Established in 2000, L&F began mass production of NCM-based cathode materials in 2007 and became a leading local company by successfully developing the world’s first high-nickel NCMA cathode material with 90% nickel content in 2019. Currently, it is recognized as a South Korean representative secondary battery company with a dominant competitive edge, ranking 5th in market capitalization on the KOSDAQ.

CEO Choi Su-an of L&F (right) and Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu, are signing a new investment agreement.

Through this investment agreement, L&F plans to establish a large-scale secondary battery material cluster on a 558,909㎡ (approximately 170,000 pyeong) site within the second phase of the Daegu National Industrial Complex.

This mega investment is expected to propel L&F from a specialized high-nickel cathode material manufacturer to a comprehensive secondary battery material company producing next-generation anode materials and LFP cathode materials.

According to the investment plan announced at the signing ceremony, L&F will build manufacturing facilities across five blocks covering 170,000 pyeong to meet global mid- to long-term demand. Upon completion, the new manufacturing facilities alone are expected to generate sales of approximately 9.5 trillion KRW, which is 2.4 times the 2022 annual sales of 3.9 trillion KRW.

Specifically, L&F plans to strategically respond to diversified customer demands by diversifying its product lineup. First, it will construct manufacturing facilities for LFP battery cathode materials with an annual capacity of 160,000 tons, which have seen rapidly increasing demand recently. It will also build next-generation battery anode material manufacturing facilities with an annual capacity of 22,000 tons to respond to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and reduce dependence on China. Additionally, the existing high-nickel cathode material manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 130,000 tons will be further expanded after the final completion of the Guji 3 Plant (scheduled for August 2024, including logistics warehouse and dormitory completion) to meet global mid- to long-term demand.

Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo is speaking after signing an investment agreement with L&F.

This investment is expected to accelerate the establishment of a global value chain in the secondary battery sector within the Daegu National Industrial Complex. Including the 1.1 trillion KRW investment in the Guji 1, Guji 2, and Guji 3 plants covering 147,149㎡ (44,000 pyeong), L&F will have invested a total of 3.65 trillion KRW across 706,058㎡ (213,000 pyeong) in the Daegu National Industrial Complex and surrounding areas. Considering the total industrial land area of the Daegu National Industrial Complex is 4,910,527㎡ (1,485,000 pyeong), L&F will occupy approximately 14.4% of the entire area.

In addition, ‘Mirae Advanced Materials,’ a secondary battery material company, began mass production of lithium hydroxide, a key cathode material, at its second plant built in the adjacent Dalseong 2nd Industrial Complex in June. Furthermore, Doosan Recycle Solution, a Doosan Group affiliate specializing in secondary battery recycling, which was attracted to the second phase of the Daegu National Industrial Complex in August, is scheduled to begin full-scale operations in 2025.

In line with these developments, Daegu City is accelerating efforts to foster a secondary battery industry ecosystem. Notably, it is creating a ‘Secondary Battery Circular Park’ (81,175㎡) within the Dalseong 2nd Industrial Complex from 2023 to 2025 to support technology related to used battery utilization. It is also establishing a ‘Used Battery Testing and Evaluation Center’ from 2024 to 2026 to actively support the full-cycle growth of the local secondary battery industry through policy measures.

Moreover, anticipating a shortage of approximately 66,000 domestic professionals in secondary battery-related fields by 2030, Daegu plans to support customized professional workforce training through industry-academia-research collaboration.

The background to this large-scale investment in the Daegu region lies in Daegu City’s full-scale one-stop investment support efforts. In particular, the Guji 3 Plant, where this agreement was signed, is regarded as a representative case of Daegu’s one-stop corporate investment support, adding significance to the event.

The Guji 3 Plant was established through a 650 billion KRW investment attraction agreement between Daegu City and L&F on August 18, 2022. At that time, L&F urgently needed to expand large-scale production capacity by constructing a new plant to meet rapidly growing global demand.

Accordingly, Daegu City completed administrative procedures to support one-stop building permits and approvals, enabling construction to start within 40 days after the investment agreement. It actively supported timely corporate investment by providing priority water supply through partial water connection before infrastructure installation was complete, installing temporary water and sewage pipes, and supplying large-capacity electricity in the second phase of the Daegu National Industrial Complex.

Choi Su-an, CEO of L&F, said, “While many domestic secondary battery companies face difficulties securing sites due to complex regulations and location limitations, we were able to decide on this mega investment thanks to Daegu City’s proactive one-stop administrative support and regulatory relief. We will continue to work closely with Daegu City to help the local economy leap forward through growth in related industries and strengthened workforce recruitment.”

Mayor Hong Jun-pyo said, “L&F, born in Daegu, has grown into a representative company of South Korea, revitalizing the local economy. We will operate a one-stop investment support team to provide full administrative and policy support to ensure the successful execution of L&F’s large-scale investment.”

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