SEOUL, Dec 10 (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung SDI said on Wednesday that its unit Samsung SDI America has signed a deal to supply lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to a U.S. customer for energy storage systems, triggering a sharp rally in its shares.
The contract is valued at more than 2 trillion won ($1.36 billion), it said in a statement, adding that deliveries will run for three years starting in 2027.
Samsung SDI did not name the customer, describing it as an energy infrastructure development and operations company.
The announcement sent Samsung SDI shares up as much as 6.1% in morning trade, versus the benchmark KOSPI's 0.1% fall.
The prismatic LFP batteries to be supplied under the deal will be manufactured by converting existing production lines at Samsung SDI's U.S. plant, the battery maker said.
Samsung SDI, which is jointly building and operating an electric vehicle battery plant with Stellantis to target the U.S. market, said it has been shifting some production lines to energy storage system batteries in response to changes in local demand.
Energy storage batteries have a similar chemistry to automotive batteries and are used to power facilities such as data centres.
South Korean battery makers are repurposing EV battery production lines to also produce energy storage systems as they face the phasing out of U.S. subsidies.
($1 = 1,468.9400 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong YangEditing by Ed Davies)
