Speciality Chemicals Magazine SEP / OCT 2023 | Page 6

NEWS

ICL breaks ground on battery materials plant

ICL has held the groundbreaking ceremony for a $ 400 million , 13,000 m 2 , 30,000 tones / year battery materials manufacturing facility at its Carondolet site at St Louis , Missouri . Present at the event on 8 August were Secretary of Energy Jennifer M . Granholm , whose department granted $ 197 million towards building the facility under the Investing in America agenda , and Missouri governor Mike Parson
Due to enter operation in 2025 , this is expected to be the first large-scale lithium iron phosphate ( LFP ) facility in the US . It will supply the energy storage , electric vehicles and clean energy industries , creating some 150 new direct jobs and indirectly supporting 800-900 more positions during the construction phase .
LFP is said to be one of the fastest-growing sectors of the battery industry . By 2031 , E Source forecasts that global demand for iron phosphate-based cathode active materials will reach more than 3 million tonnes / year , with a market value of more than $ 40 billion , as the market moves toward safer , lower-cost cathode materials .
6 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981