Missouri Governor Mike Parson (center) speaks with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm following a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023 at the site of ICL’s future battery materials manufacturing facility in St. Louis. (PR pic)
ICL (formerly Israel Chemicals Ltd.), an Israel-based global specialty minerals company, broke ground on its $400 million lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material (CAM) manufacturing plant in St. Louis. ICL stated that this is expected to be the first large-scale LFP material manufacturing plant in the United States.
The company was awarded $197 million for the project through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, which is subject to the completion of negotiations with the Department of Energy. The plant is expected to be operational by 2025 and will produce high-quality LFP material for the global lithium battery industry, using primarily a domestic supply chain.
ICL said that the LFP plant 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, and industrial applications.
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The project will create 800 to 900 union construction positions, and ICL has engaged St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Companies as general contractor for the project. ICL is also partnering with Aleees to establish a localized, integrated and sustainable LFP supply chain for U.S.-based customers. Taiwan-based Aleees is a long-standing LFP battery material manufacturer and global IP licensor.
LFP is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the battery industry, explained ICL, as this technology offers superior safety at a lower cost and with a 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 in 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.
“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 U.S. on the cutting edge,” said U.S. 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 is excited to be building the first North American, commercial-scale plant for this critical component required by the energy-storage, mobility and infrastructure end-markets, and 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. “We’re excited about the demand we are already seeing for this capacity and are looking forward to moving into this new business. Additionally, as we rapidly move ahead, we are looking forward to partnering with some of the premier participants in this exciting new industry.”
