ICL, a leading global specialty minerals company, celebrated the groundbreaking of its battery materials manufacturing plant in St. Louis, which is expected to be the first large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) facility in the USA. The USD 400 million facility is planned to be operational by 2025. It will help meet growing demand from the energy storage, electric vehicle (EV) and clean-energy industries for USA-produced-and-sourced essential battery materials. ICL’s investment in the plant was augmented by a $197 million grant from the USA Department of Energy.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is providing historic funding that will bring down energy costs for electric vehicles, create good jobs and keep the USA. on the cutting edge,” said USA Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm at the groundbreaking event.
“The momentous groundbreaking of ICL’s battery materials manufacturing facility in St. Louis is part of a manufacturing renaissance to build our country’s supply chain for these clean energy products.”
ICL announced that it was pleased to build the first North American, commercial-scale plant for this critical component required by the energy-storage, mobility and infrastructure end-markets.
“We’re proud to make this investment in St. Louis and to create more than 150 high-paying union and professional positions in our hometown,” said Phil Brown, president of the company’s Phosphate Division and managing director of North America for ICL.
Brown continued that ICL was excited about the demand it was already witnessing for this capacity and was looking forward to moving into this new business. He also added that ICL looked forward to partnering with some of the premier participants in this new industry.
The 140,000-square-foot facility is expected to produce 30,000 metric tons of LFP and will serve as the foundation for the company’s global battery materials business. The new plant will be located on ICL’s existing Carondelet campus in St. Louis, which the Justice40 Initiative recognises as a disadvantaged community.
“We’re proud to have ICL Group in Missouri and even prouder to be able to break ground on this first-of-its-kind facility in our nation right here in St. Louis,” said Missouri Governor Mike Parson.
Parson thanked the local, state, and federal partners for helping Missouri secure this project and making our state an easy choice for ICL to grow and expand. He also stated that he was looking forward to the company’s success and the opportunities it will offer Missourians in the St. Louis region.
The project will create 800 to 900 union construction positions, and ICL has engaged St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Companies as general contractors. ICL is also partnering with Ales to establish a localised, integrated, sustainable LFP supply chain for USA-based customers. Taiwan-based Ales is a long-standing LFP battery material manufacturer and global IP licensor.
LFP is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the battery industry, as this technology offers superior safety at a lower cost and with longer life.
By 2031, E Source forecasts global demand for iron phosphate-based cathode active materials will reach more than 3 million tons, for a market value of more than $40 billion, due to a shift toward the safer and lower-cost cathode materials used in more affordable EVs and energy storage solutions. The new facility represents a significant expansion of ICL’s energy-storage portfolio and demonstrates the company’s commitment to developing high-quality specialty products for agricultural, food, energy and industrial applications.
