LG Chem plans $3 billion cathode plant in Tennessee

LG Chem plans to spend more than $3 billion to build what it says will be the largest battery cathode plant in the US. It will be in Clarksville, Tennessee, and have the capacity to make 120,000 metric tons per year of a cathode material containing nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum—enough for 1.2 million electric vehicles, the firm says. In July, LG Chem signed an agreement to supply cathode materials to General Motors’ US battery factories, but to date most of LG Chem’s investment in the materials has been in South Korea. LG Chem is one of several companies, including BASF, Posco, Redwood Materials, and Umicore, to recently announce North American investments in cathode materials. GM is one of several car companies building battery factories in the region, but right now no local plant makes cathode material for those batteries. LG Chem says it envisions the Tennessee site becoming a supply chain hub where materials companies and recycling companies will work together.