LG Energy Solution will receive 700,000 tons of lithium concentrate from Liontown Resources, an Australian mining company, for five years from 2024.
 

The Australian company made a public disclosure on the Australian Stock Exchange on May 2 that it has signed a final lithium concentrate supply contract with LG Energy Solution. The announcement came four months after the two companies signed a pre-supply contract.
 

LG Energy Solution announced on Jan. 12 that it signed a pre-supply contract to purchase a certain amount of output from Liontown's mines. The final supply contract can be extended for an additional five years.

Experts say that 700,000 tons of lithium concentrate can be processed into 100,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, which is enough to produce batteries for about 2.5 million high-performance electric vehicles that can travel more than 500 km on a single charge.
 

Lithium hydroxide can be easily synthesized with nickel, which increases the capacity of a battery. Demand for lithium hydroxide is on a steady rise as the development of high-nickel batteries has recently grown in importance. According to the Korea International Trade Association, 83.5 percent of lithium hydroxide distributed in Korea in 2021 came from China. LG Energy Solution emphasized that its latest deal is meaningful in terms of supply chain diversification.