"Umicore made a multi-year contract with LG Chem for supplying Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cathode materials to LG Chem's battery production plants in Poland, Korea, and China. The strategic supply agreement will start in 2020 and deliver 125,000 metric tonnes of material over several years. They are also going to form a technology licensing agreement that covers intellectual property rights in the high-end NMC cathode material and energy storage applications in the automotive industry. As the automotive industry is transitioning from fossil fuels to EVs, this agreement will help LG Chem to keep up with the rising demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. LG Chem will also be able to use Umicore's experience in producing cost-effective, long driving range, and fast charging battery modules. Additionally, Umicore will help LG Chem in battery recycling which is going to become a new trend in the industry."- Soumen Mandal