The plant will produce LFP cathode active material and is scheduled to be operational by 2025.

Global speciality minerals company ICL has marked the groundbreaking of its battery materials manufacturing plant to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials in St. Louis, USA. ICL’s investment in the plant was augmented by a US$197M grant from the US Department of Energy and is expected to produce 30ktpy of LFP to be used in batteries for EVs and energy storage systems (ESS). 

LFP technology was developed by US-based researchers in the 1990s but first commercialised in the mid-2000s by Chinese companies. Although ICL expects this to be the first large-scale LFP facility in the US, it is not the first to be announced. Earlier this year, Ford revealed plans to build a US$3.5Bn LFP battery plant in Michigan in a move that makes it the only US automaker to build domestic production of both nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) and LFP batteries. 

These developments in the US are a clear signpost for LFP battery technology growth and highlight the requirement for all global EV manufacturers and OEMs to find a way to scale their access to durable battery technologies reducing the pressure on critical materials. Future LFP formulations will increasingly benefit from the marginal gains brought about by manganese-doped versions (LMFP). As such, Project Blue sees LFP continuing to gain market share to facilitate the rollout of lower-range, lower-cost EVs (particularly in China). Here, LFP will increasingly compete against NCM batteries as well as assert its dominance in ESS applications.