Samsung SDI's March 24 release says StarPlus "is expected to mass-produce" LFP from Q4 2026 — facility-level, conditional, no GWh threshold attached. ETNews on July 6, citing unnamed industry sources, puts the first LFP line's production start at September, ahead of Samsung's own target. The June 25 ETNews report puts LFP equipment installation completion in H1 2027, expanded supply from H2.
All three can hold. A staged ramp reconciles them if the September line sits outside the two roughly 12 GWh lines on the 2027 equipment schedule. Nothing public establishes that.
The Q2 deck, July 30, still carries US prismatic LFP mass production under H2 goals. And L&F cathode deliveries begin 2027, which leaves any 2026 output running on unnamed feedstock. Treat StarPlus LFP as claimed, not qualified.
Phase 1 line map (ETNews, June 25, unnamed industry sources): 4 lines, 3 converting to ESS — one NCA ESS running at ~7 GWh, two prismatic LFP at ~12 GWh each.
Confirmed: roadmap only (Samsung, March 2026), plus the L&F cathode contract with deliveries from 2027.
Unconfirmed: September 2026 start (trade press only); commissioning, acceptance and compliance documentation, nothing public.
Customer: a 2027 US ESS supply agreement is named; no named offtaker for 2026 output.
Resolves it: milestone definition and GWh scale for the September line — sampling, SOP or first shipment; cathode source pre-2027; a first-delivery record for 273Ah cells.
Arithmetic: 30 GWh end-2026 ESS target less ~7 GWh NCA leaves 23 GWh on lines whose equipment isn't installed until H1 2027.