POSCO FUTURE M has broken ground on a dedicated lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode plant to respond to the energy storage system (ESS) and mass-market electric vehicle battery materials markets.
On the 28th, the joint venture CNP New Material Technology, established by POSCO FUTURE M, Fino, and CNGR, said it held a safety prayer event at the Yeongilman 4 General Industrial Complex in Pohang and began construction of an LFP cathode plant. Aiming for mass production next year, the plant plans to gradually expand its production capacity (CAPA) to a maximum of 50,000 tons per year.
POSCO FUTURE M convened its board of directors in December last year to approve the LFP cathode plant construction agenda and signed an investment joint venture agreement (JVA) with its partners the same month.
LFP batteries have lower output than ternary batteries such as nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA), but they are cheaper and have a longer lifespan. Recently, demand for ESS-use LFP batteries has been rising rapidly due to increased use of renewable energy and growing power needs from the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
With the groundbreaking of this plant, POSCO FUTURE M plans to expand its product portfolio to LFP cathodes alongside its current focus on ternary battery cathodes such as NCM and NCA, strengthening its order-winning competitiveness in the global market.
Separately from the dedicated plant groundbreaking, POSCO FUTURE M is converting part of the high-nickel ternary product lines at its existing Pohang cathode plant into LFP cathode production lines. It will begin producing prototypes in the second quarter and move to mass production in the second half.