Secondary battery company L&F said on the 4th that its subsidiary L&F Plus secured long-term, low-interest policy financing worth 220 billion won from the Public Growth Fund.
The support will be used to build Korea's first and largest dedicated factory for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials. The total support amounts to 220 billion won, including 170 billion won from the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund, and will be provided as a long-term, low-interest loan with a 12-year maturity. The funds will be used entirely for facility investment.
Demand for LFP cathode materials is rising quickly, led by the energy storage system (ESS) and mass-market electric vehicle (EV) markets, thanks to their thermal stability and price competitiveness. However, in Korea there is still no corporations with an LFP cathode mass-production system at commercial scale.
L&F in Aug. last year established L&F Plus, a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to producing and selling LFP cathode materials. It then broke ground on a dedicated plant of about 100,000 square meters within Phase 2 of the National Industrial Complex in Dalseong County, Daegu, and completed it in May this year, nine months after groundbreaking.
L&F Plus plans to begin mass production of 30,000 tons per year of LFP cathode materials at the end of the third quarter this year. L&F Plus plans to expand the plant's capacity to 60,000 tons per year by the first half of 2027.
L&F CEO Heo Je-hong said, "The confirmation of this Public Growth Fund support recognizes the importance of localizing LFP cathode materials in the secondary battery sector, a national key strategic industry, as well as our proprietary technology and business execution capabilities," adding, "Based on the long-term, low-interest financing structure, we will stably advance mass production of LFP cathode materials and contribute to strengthening key material supply chains in Korea and North America and enhancing the competitiveness of the battery industry."