L&F named top performer under World Class program, wins minister's commendation

L&F, a global secondary battery materials company, announced Wednesday that it received a commendation from the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy after being named a "World Class Outstanding Performer" at an event organized by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology on Friday in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The commendation was awarded to companies in the World Class 300 program that exceeded annual sales of 1 trillion won ($730 million) for two consecutive years within the past three years, qualifying them for what the program calls "graduation by exceeding requirements." Such companies are recognized as having demonstrated global competitiveness through self-driven growth.

L&F was among the qualifying companies out of roughly 380 World Class participants. A total of seven companies, including L&F, were named outstanding performers and received the minister's commendation.

World Class 300 is a government program launched by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in 2011 to foster mid-sized and small and medium-sized enterprises. Since 2021, the ministry and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology have continued the initiative through a follow-on program called World Class Plus. L&F has held the World Class title for 10 years since its selection in 2014.

Since joining the program, L&F has strengthened its growth foundation through research and development support. Sales stood at 245.7 billion won when the company was selected in 2014 and rose to 2.15 trillion won in 2025, a gain of 777 percent. Over the same period, exports climbed from 242.2 billion won to 2.15 trillion won, up 786.5 percent, while the workforce expanded from 172 to 1,924 employees, an increase of 1,018.6 percent.

"This commendation is an external recognition of our employees' technology development efforts, our customer-focused global business expansion, and the results of sustained investment," said Cho Jeong-hun, head of L&F's management division. "We will continue to strengthen our competitiveness in high-performance high-nickel cathode materials while also launching our LFP — lithium iron phosphate — business in earnest, positioning ourselves as a key partner in the global battery materials market."

L&F has established a wholly owned subsidiary, L&F Plus, dedicated to the production and sale of LFP cathode materials, and plans to begin mass production at an annual capacity of 30,000 tons starting at the end of the third quarter this year.

L&F Plus operates exclusively on LFP cathode material production and sales. Its factory covers approximately 100,000 square meters within the second phase of the national industrial complex in Dalseong-gun, Daegu, and was completed roughly nine months after breaking ground in August last year. Total investment for an annual production capacity of 60,000 tons stands at 338.2 billion won.

L&F plans to diversify its business portfolio through a two-track strategy that pairs its existing strength in high-nickel cathode materials with the new LFP business, further solidifying its foundation for medium- and long-term growth.