LG Energy Solution signs four-year supply deal for Canadian lithium concentrate

LG Energy Solution announced on October 7 that it had signed a binding four-year agreement with Elevra Lithium for 240,000 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate from Quebec, Canada. Deliveries are expected to begin later in 2026. The deal gives the battery maker a contracted source of North American lithium feedstock for its electric-vehicle and energy-storage businesses, though the companies have not reported that shipments have begun.

The concentrate is to come from Elevra’s North American Lithium project, which LG Energy Solution described as already operational. The agreement covers supply over four years; the announcement did not give a contract price or a detailed delivery schedule. Those missing terms limit what can be said about the deal’s cost and when particular volumes will arrive.

What the Quebec supply agreement covers

Spodumene concentrate is an intermediate material that can be processed into lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide, according to LG Energy Solution. Those processed materials can then enter battery supply chains. Contracting for concentrate secures an earlier stage of that chain than buying the processed lithium products alone, but it does not itself establish how much battery material will ultimately be made.

LG Energy Solution said the arrangement would broaden its sourcing beyond lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. The company described that flexibility as useful when demand shifts between electric vehicles and energy-storage systems. Its procurement leader, Kang Yeol Lee, said the agreement was intended to strengthen the company’s North American raw-material supply chain and improve its response to customers. Those are the company’s stated aims, rather than measured results of the new contract.

How the deal fits North American battery plans

LG Energy Solution said it has five standalone or joint-venture facilities in North America serving energy-storage customers with lithium iron phosphate batteries. ChosunBiz identified sites in Lansing and Holland, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, along with joint-venture sites in Ohio with Honda and Tennessee with General Motors. The company is presenting the Quebec source as part of a regional chain linking raw materials with battery manufacturing.

ChosunBiz and Yonhap reported that LG Energy Solution plans to have more than 50 gigawatt-hours of North American lithium iron phosphate cell production capacity by the end of 2026. That figure is a target for capacity, not a measure of cells already produced. The new supply contract may support the company’s plans, but the reviewed accounts do not quantify how much of that planned capacity it will supply.

The company said its NextStar Energy facility in Windsor began production in 2025. ChosunBiz reported that it began mass production of energy-storage batteries that November. LG Energy Solution says the facility is backed by more than C$5 billion in investment and could create up to 2,500 direct jobs at full production. The jobs figure remains a company expectation, not a reported employment count resulting from this lithium agreement.

What the companies say comes next

Elevra chief executive Lucas Dow said the agreement gives his company a committed customer for a meaningful portion of output from North American Lithium while leaving it exposed to spodumene concentrate market prices. He said it supports Elevra’s effort to build a broader customer base as it increases production and advances an expansion of the Quebec project. The announcement did not quantify the portion of mine output committed to LG Energy Solution.

For now, the confirmed development is the signed supply commitment and the stated expectation that deliveries will start later in 2026. The available reporting does not establish that any contracted concentrate has been delivered or processed, or that the agreement has changed battery output, employment or market prices. Those outcomes will depend on execution after the announcement, and the companies have not provided a detailed shipment timetable.