Industry sources said LS-L&F Battery Solution (LLBS) will complete a new precursor plant in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, at the end of September 2025. LLBS was established in 2023 as a joint venture between LS Group, which has strength in non-ferrous metal materials, and high-nickel cathode materials specialist L&F Co.
The company has invested 1 trillion won ($717.4 million) in the facility, which will have an annual capacity of about 40,000 tons of precursors. Precursors are intermediate materials needed to produce cathode materials, the key component of lithium-ion batteries. Around 90 percent of precursors are currently imported from China, underscoring the urgency of localization.
LS Group is also expanding in nickel sulfate, another core material for precursors. LS MnM Inc., its non-ferrous smelting affiliate, is building a large-scale electric vehicle battery material (EVBM) plant in Onsan on South Korea’s east coast. The facility, which is set for completion in the first half of 2026, is under construction at the Onsan smelter site with a 670 billion won investment and will have an annual capacity of about 20,000 tons.
Under LS Group’s plan, LS MnM will supply nickel sulfate to LLBS, which will then produce precursors and deliver them to L&F for cathode material production. This structure creates a vertically integrated secondary battery materials value chain that spans from raw materials to finished products, with supply aimed at both domestic and global battery makers.
Leadership of the initiative rests with LS MnM Chief Executive Officer Koo Dong-hwi, a third-generation member of the LS founding family. Koo moved from LS Electric Co. to LS MnM as chief operating officer in late 2023, then was promoted to CEO at the end of 2024 and has since spearheaded the secondary battery materials push. His leadership reflects LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun’s “ambidextrous management” strategy, seeking to offset volatility in copper smelting with new growth sectors.
CEO Koo said, pledging to secure a new growth engine for the group and contribute to broader industrial stability,
Although the secondary battery materials business faces various issues and variables, it will show long-term upward growth,
The investment push is underpinned by the U.S. effort to cut reliance on Chinese materials, with Washington tightening restrictions on Chinese battery inputs through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) since 2022. The Trump administration recently reinforced this stance with passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and beginning in 2026, batteries containing more than 60 percent of materials produced by prohibited foreign entities (PFEs), including China, will be excluded from the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (AMPC) under the act. This is expected to accelerate the decoupling of secondary battery materials from China.
Korea remains the only country outside China with large-scale cathode production capacity, positioning it to benefit from rising U.S. demand. To secure stable raw material supply, LS Group is also pursuing partnerships with nickel smelters and mines in Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel holder, where there are no tax-related complications.
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