LG Energy Solution signs battery material deal with Australian firm

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES), South Korea's leading battery maker, said Tuesday it has signed a deal to receive a key battery material from an Australian company.

Under the one-year deal with Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers (WesCEF), LGES will receive 85,000 tons of lithium spodumene concentrate, which can be processed into lithium hydroxide and then car batteries, the company said in a statement.

With the processed lithium hydroxide, the company will produce batteries that can power 270,000 high-performance electric vehicles with a driving range of more than 500 kilometers per charge, it said.

The lithium materials from WesCEF satisfy the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that came into effect on Jan. 1 last year.

The IRA gives up to $7,500 in tax credits to electric vehicle (EV) buyers whose vehicles were assembled in North America and made with minerals mined and processed in the U.S. or countries or regions that have free trade agreements with Washington.

In recent years, LGES has signed similar deals with Australia's Green Technology Metals, Chile's Sociedad Quimicay Minera, and Australia's Liontown Resources to secure the core battery material.

In the United States, the world's most important automobile market, it is also seeking partnerships with local battery materials companies for the same purpose, the statement said.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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