[Courtesy of LG Energy Solution]
Global battery makers are in a race to acquire as many stable supply channels for lithium and other rare metals that are required for the production of batteries. China controls about 70 percent of the global lithium production. China, Australia, and Chile are the world's top three largest lithium producers.
LG Energy Solution said that the company signed an investment agreement with Green Technology Metals to acquire about 7.98 percent stake in the Australian lithium company and annually gain access to 25 percent of lithium ore concentrate produced from Green Technology Metals' mine in Seymour, the United States, for the next five years.
Green Technology Metals have four lithium mines in the North American region. The Seymour mine has as about 1,000 tons of lithium deposit. "This cooperation has a big meaning as we can primarily obtain core metals in the North American region," LG Energy Solution's Chief Procurement Officer Kim Myeong-hwan said in a statement on May 19.
The establishment of a stable lithium ore concentrate supply channel will play a vital role in LG Energy Solution's battery businesses in the U.S. In February 2023, the battery maker signed a supply deal with a U.S.-based commercial electric vehicle battery pack maker called "Freudenberg e-Power Systems" to supply battery modules.
The South Korean battery maker is focusing on the diversification of supply and production channels to gain competitiveness in the global market and the ability to move agilely to match market trends. In February 2023, LG Energy Solution partnered with American automobile company Ford and Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding to establish a joint venture battery factory in Türkiye. The annual production capacity will be enough to manufacture about 350,000 high-performance electric vehicles.
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