Under the agreement, Nemaska Lithium will provide LG Chem with 7,000 tons per year of lithium hydroxide produced at its commercial plant in Shawinigan on a take-or-pay basis under initial five-year contract starting October 2020.
The entire shipment is enough to manufacture about 140,000 batteries to power high-performance electric vehicles that can travel over 320km on a single charge, LG Chem said.
Lithium hydroxide draws attention from the EV industry for its easy formulation with nickel that contributes to a higher battery capacity. EV battery producers have been working to increase the amount of nickel as the substitute to cobalt content in cathode materials in an effort to slash costs and improve performance. But nickel resists chemical composition with lithium in high temperatures, and thereby lithium hydroxide with a lower melting point emerges as an alternative.
An LG Chem official said the company will focus on a stable supply of battery materials to meet the growing demand for EVs. As part of this strategy, the company recently made investments into multiple OEMs for battery materials.
In April, LG Chem announced its plan to build two joint ventures with China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to make precursor and cathode materials. Last year, LG Chem invested $897,000 to obtain a 10 percent stake in Kemco, a nickel sulfate producer and subsidiary of Korea Zinc.
By Kang Doo-soon and Minu Kim
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
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