LMFP Commercialization Accelerates, Global Shipments Seen Exceeding 1.3 Mt by 2030

EVTank forecasts that global shipments of LMFP cathode materials will exceed 1.3 million tonnes by 2030.

Global adoption of lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode materials is accelerating, with the market on track to exceed 1.3 million tonnes of annual shipments by 2030, according to a new white paper published by research house EVTank and China Yiwei Institute of Economics.

LMFP shipments reached 13,000 tonnes in 2024, while volumes in the first half of 2025 have already surpassed that tally. Full-year 2025 shipments are projected to reach 35,000 tonnes.

Compared with widely deployed lithium iron phosphate (LFP), LMFP offers higher energy density and superior low-temperature performance while retaining similar cycle life and safety levels. Against nickel-rich ternary chemistries, LMFP holds an advantage in durability, cost and thermal stability.

Following the introduction of the LMFP pathway in 2022, industrialisation has rapidly gained pace. Traditional cathode suppliers including Ronbay Technology, Dynanonic, Easpring and Hunan Yuneng were first to invest.

They were later joined by new entrants such as Hengchuang Nano and Zhiliang Materials, which leveraged carbon coating, nanostructuring and ion doping techniques to improve conductivity and compaction density, while exploring LMFP blending with high-nickel ternary materials.

In the EV segment, CATL has already deployed LMFP blending schemes in models such as Chery’s Star Era ES, Tesla‘s Model Y and Luxeed’s S7. Gotion High-Tech has adopted the same architecture in its mass-produced L600 “Qichen” battery.

Two-wheeler and stationary storage manufacturers including Xingheng and Tianneng have rolled out LMFP at scale, while Ronbay positions the chemistry for use in commercial vehicles and grid storage.

As costs decline and performance improves, LMFP is expected to complement both LFP and ternary chemistries, broadening its addressable market.

The competitive landscape remains highly concentrated, with only six Chinese companies currently shipping LMFP in commercial quantities. In the first half of 2025, Hengchuang Nano and Ronbay collectively accounted for nearly 80% of the market.

Although many suppliers have announced production plans in the hundreds of thousands of tonnes, utilisation rates remain low and new capacity ramp-up is slow.

However, multiple producers are now building flexible production lines capable of switching between LFP and LMFP. Once downstream validation is complete, output could scale sharply.

The rise of LMFP is unfolding against the backdrop of robust global EV demand. Research firm Rho Motion reports 14.7 million NEVs sold worldwide in the first nine months of 2025, up 26% year-on-year.

EVTank forecasts that global shipments of LMFP cathode materials will exceed 1.3 million tonnes by 2030. If realised, the chemistry could reshape the cathode supply landscape — and emerge as the “next LFP.”