LG Chem signs multi-billion dollar deal with GM in connection to Clarksville cathode plant

Jaxie Pidgeon
·2 min read

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The LG Chem battery manufacturing plant being built in Clarksville has received a significant customer.

General Motors (GM) plans to spend nearly $19 billion over the next decade to source electric vehicle battery material from South-Korea based LG Chem.

Under the contract, LG Chem will supply GM with over 500,000 tons of cathode materials through 2035.

PREVIOUS | LG Chem to build cathode plant in Clarksville

LG Chem’s new $3.2 billion Clarksville facility is the largest foreign direct investment in state history with plans to bring over 800 new jobs to Montgomery County.

“Even with the 20-year tax incentive, they’re going to be paying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of taxes that’s directly going to benefit Clarksville-Montgomery County,” said Josh Ward, vice president of industrial development for the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council. “Everybody talks about infrastructure improvements and expanding the roads in a growing community; well, this is how you do it. You bring in these major companies that pay taxes, and you use those taxes to make improvements on the community.”

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Ward said crews broke ground on the 420-acre site in December 2023.

“We anticipate around 2,000 construction jobs in and around the Clarksville Industrial Park for the next two or three years,” Ward said. “Now that [GM] secured this $19 billion contract with LG Chem, it’s all systems go.”

GM’s supply deal with LG Chem follows a contract it made in October 2023 with Toyota worth more than $2 billion.

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“It just further solidifies the fact that this is a quality project for our community, and gives us security and stability for a long time to come,” Ward said.

The plant is slated to begin mass production in 2026.

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