Posco Future M signs supply agreement for LFP cathode materials

Posco Future M has officially launched its LFP cathode material business, reaching a large-scale, long-term supply agreement with a major Korean battery maker for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials.

The agreement, reached to preemptively address surging North American ESS demand, will see Posco Future M supply more than 190,000 tons of LFP cathode materials to the battery maker over six years, from next year through 2032. The two companies plan to finalize the terms and sign a formal contract in the third quarter, according to a press release.

“Leveraging Posco Group-level collaboration, the company plans to produce and supply LFP cathode materials with enhanced cost competitiveness by applying new processes that use steelmaking by-products, such as iron oxide, and lithium sourced from salt lakes in Argentina,” the company said.

Posco Future M is in the final stages of negotiating LFP cathode material supply contracts with other major customers and plans to expand production capacity in line with additional orders. 

Posco Future M recently completed the conversion of portions of its high-nickel cathode material production lines at the Pohang plant into LFP cathode material production lines. The company is currently undergoing prototype certification with customers and plans to begin mass production supply by the end of this year, the press release said.

In March, the company signed a large-scale, long-term supply contract worth approximately 1 trillion won with a global automaker for synthetic graphite anode materials, and is investing approximately 357 billion won to build a new synthetic graphite anode material plant in Vietnam to expand production capacity.

Separately, CNP New Material Technology — a joint venture between Posco Future M and FINO-CNGR — began construction of an LFP cathode material plant at Pohang’s Yeongil Bay General Industrial Complex 4 in May, targeting mass production in 2027.