엘앤에프의 승부수, ‘하이니켈’의 수익성과 ‘LFP’의 영토 확장으로 위기를 기회로 바꾸다 > K-wave Trends

L&F’s first core growth engine is ‘ultra high nickel’ cathode material technology targeting the premium market. The company succeeded in dramatically improving energy density and driving range by becoming the first in the world to mass-produce a composite cathode active material with a nickel content of over 95%. The fact that safety and durability are simultaneously secured by overcoming the problems of internal structure collapse and gas generation, which were chronic shortcomings of existing high nickel materials through ‘single-crystal/polycrystal mixing technology’, proves our technological superiority. In addition, by simultaneously making cost-saving efforts to lower the cobalt content to less than 5% and achieving price competitiveness, we have built a core competitiveness that receives constant love calls from global automakers, including Tesla. This technological confidence became a solid foundation for transforming our sales structure, which had been concentrated on specific customers, into a diversified global portfolio, including North America and Europe.

The second big bet is the LFP (lithium, phosphate, iron) cathode material business, which is aimed at the low-end electric vehicle and energy storage system (ESS) markets. L&F established a 100% subsidiary, ‘L&F Plus,’ and built a large-scale dedicated factory in Dalseong-gun, Daegu, taking aggressive steps to dominate the non-Chinese LFP supply chain. The recent securing of long-term, low-interest loan support worth KRW 220 billion from the National Growth Fund proves that the government also highly evaluates L&F's ability to localize LFP. The roadmap to build a 60,000-ton system by 2027, starting with annual mass production of 30,000 tons at the end of the third quarter, is expected to make a substantial contribution to sales in conjunction with a large-scale supply contract with Samsung SDI. Beyond simple business expansion, this will solidify L&F's position as a strategic alternative to Chinese materials under the U.S. supply chain regulations (FEOC).

CEO Heo Je-hong’s return to the front line of management is an inflection point where L&F moves beyond ‘survival’ to ‘leap’. As a manager with a background in research and development (R&D), he chose to focus on strengthening the company's substance rather than expanding its external appearance, even in the face of concern from the outside. We boldly eliminated inefficient joint ventures and focused on establishing two clear axes: High Nickel, which is highly profitable, and LFP, which has great future growth potential. Of course, temporary financial burden and increased accounts receivable due to rapid facility investment still remain as challenges to be resolved, but efforts to reduce dependence on borrowings and improve cash flow are producing visible results. Exploring the possibility of applying high-output high-nickel materials in new future markets such as the robot industry also demonstrates CEO Heo's strategic insight to read market paradigm changes one step ahead.

Capital markets and experts are also sending positive signals to L&F’s transformation. The fact that a record number of subscription funds poured into last year's large-scale bond issuance (BW) means that the market trusts L&F's future potential. Although there is analysis that the LFP business may have a limited share of total sales in the short term, it is an essential choice in terms of mid- to long-term profit diversification, considering the explosive growth of the ESS market. In particular, the fact that shipments of high-nickel cathode materials continued to increase for three consecutive quarters and the company succeeded in protecting profitability suggests that L&F's constitution, which is now out of the deficit tunnel and on the verge of turning into a full-fledged surplus, has completely improved. The current strategy of maintaining the technology gap and leading the de-Chineseization of the supply chain will further solidify L&F's position within the global battery ecosystem in the future.