Kemira has started pilot operations for iron phosphate production at its site in Helsingborg, Sweden, as the company develops battery-materials production for Western markets.

Iron phosphate is a chemical precursor used to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode materials for batteries used in electric vehicles, energy storage systems and other industrial applications.

The pilot facility bridges laboratory-scale development and potential industrial-scale production. It will allow Kemira to produce larger material volumes for customer testing, product qualification and process development while evaluating the requirements for a potential full-scale production facility.

“With the start-up of the Helsingborg facility, Kemira is becoming one of the first producers of iron phosphate in Europe focused on serving Western battery markets,” Peter Ersman, EVP, New Ventures & Services, Kemira, said in a statement.

Kemira said the iron phosphate project builds on its experience with inorganic chemistry, iron-based chemistries and scaling processes from laboratory research to commercial production. The company intends to use the pilot plant for product validation and manufacturing process development as it evaluates potential future scale-up.

The company will now focus on customer qualification and further process validation. Future investment in commercial-scale production will depend on successful customer qualifications and market development, Kemira said.

The development follows other work by Kemira to apply its chemistry and materials expertise to emerging applications. In 2025, the company partnered with materials-science AI company CuspAI to accelerate development of water-treatment materials for PFAS and other contaminants.

Why This Matters

The pilot addresses a supply-chain gap identified for LFP materials. The IEA reports that LFP cathode materials and their precursors remain highly concentrated in China, while nearly all LFP batteries used in Europe in 2025 were imported from China directly or embedded in imported electric vehicles.

Kemira's pilot also comes as the European Commission seeks to strengthen battery manufacturing in Europe. In June, the Commission announced a €1.5 billion Battery Booster Facility to support battery-cell manufacturers as they scale up production.