Smackover Lithium Will Provide LG With A 10-year Supply Agreement For Lithium Carbonate.

HOUSTON, August 31 (Argus) - American developer Smackover Lithium will supply 8,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually to South Korean LG Energy Solution Company under a ten-year supply agreement.
The supply will continue for ten years from the start of commercial production of the project and is expected to commence in 2029. The price has not been disclosed, but both parties stated that the contract terms are designed to support the financing of the project.
Smackover Lithium is 55% owned by Standard Lithium and 45% by Equinor. The company is seeking a 80% supply share for the first phase of its SWA project with an annual capacity of approximately 22,500 tons.
This contract with LG is equivalent in scale to the 8,000 tons per year, ten-year agreement signed with Trafigura in March, bringing the promised supply volume to approximately 90% of the target. Smackover also stated that a smaller-scale agreement is currently in the negotiation stage.
These contracts are the core part of the upcoming project financing plan. In December, Smackover stated that three export credit agencies have shown interest in over $1 billion in project debt and are currently conducting due diligence. The cooperation project plans to make a final investment decision within this year and will immediately start construction afterwards.
LG Energy Solution Company is expanding the battery production capacity for electric vehicles and grid energy storage in the United States and is committed to localizing raw material supply.
The SWA project uses direct lithium extraction technology to process the brine from the Smackover layer. The project has received funding from the US Department of Energy. Standard Lithium Company is also advancing salt water resource development in eastern Texas.