Key Battery Ingredient
LG Energy Solution has successfully secured a large amount of cobalt sulfate, a key ingredient for electric vehicle batteries, in Canada.
Electra Battery Materials, a Canadian mining company, announced on July 24, local time, that it had signed a long-term supply agreement for cobalt sulfate with LG Energy Solution.
As a result of the agreement, LG Energy Solution will be supplied with 19,000 tons of cobalt sulfate over a five-year period from 2025 to 2029. Last September, the two companies had already agreed to supply 7,000 tons of cobalt sulfate over three years starting this year. This recent deal marks a significant expansion in terms of both supply period and volume.
Electra is the only cobalt sulfate refiner in North America, planning to produce cobalt sulfate at a refinery under construction in Ontario, Canada.
LG Energy Solution has now secured a stable supply of key minerals that meet the conditions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentive for its North American factories. This diversification of supply sources has also reduced its dependency on China, which accounts for 71% of the refined cobalt used in electric vehicle batteries worldwide.