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production","chinas-xtc-and-orano-strike-e1-5-billion-deal-for-frances-first-cathode-production","article/chinas-xtc-and-orano-strike-e1-5-billion-deal-for-frances-first-cathode-production",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":707,"featured":50,"reporter":708,"_editable":712,"component":713,"seo_title":543,"categories":714,"visibility":720,"author_company":49,"featured_image":721,"seo_description":707,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":726,"formattedArticleDate":727},"efa25b47-ce38-42f3-b83b-1c6fd2210a24","2023-05-19 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"france","France",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":560},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,583,588,593,606,611,616,623,634,639,644,649,654,667,672,677,682,687,692,697,702],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570,573,581],{"text":571,"type":572},"France is set to build its first lithium ","text",{"text":574,"type":572,"marks":575},"cathode material",[576],{"type":577,"attrs":578},"link",{"href":579,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/cathode/","url",{"text":582,"type":572}," plant thanks to a joint venture signed between Chinese battery materials supplier XTC New Energy Materials and French nuclear fuel cycle specialist Orano.",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"The companies have announced they will invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) into a cathode active material and precursor factory, both to be located on the same site in Dunkirk. Orano also intends to set up a battery recycling plant nearby. ",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"Ownership across the whole project will be split evenly between the companies. XTC is expected to own 51 percent of the cathode active material plant and 49 percent of the battery precursor plant with Orano holding the rest. ",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596,598,604],{"text":597,"type":572},"The deal is only the latest in a string of Chinese investments into Europe’s lithium ion midstream sector as the region tries to expand ",{"text":599,"type":572,"marks":600},"domestic capacity",[601],{"type":577,"attrs":602},{"href":603,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/europe-faces-cathode-and-anode-shortage-in-drive-to-evs",{"text":605,"type":572},".",{"type":567,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":572},"‘This is going to be the trend: more Chinese companies coming into Europe,” said Benchmark analyst Albert Li.",{"type":567,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":572},"Battery technologies are listed as a strategic net-zero technology under the EU’s March 2023 Net-Zero Industry Act. The act says that regional manufacturing capacity should hit at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs by 2030. ",{"type":617,"attrs":618,"content":620},"heading",{"level":619,"textAlign":49},4,[621],{"text":622,"type":572},"Falling behind North America",{"type":567,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626,628],{"text":627,"type":572},"Europe has so far lagged behind North America in terms of planned cathode announcements. Pipeline capacity across all planned Europe-based active cathode materials projects is now 617,000 tonnes a year, compared to 915,000 tpa for North America, according to ",{"text":629,"type":572,"marks":630},"Benchmark’s Cathode Market Assessment, which doesn’t include the Orano/XTC plant.",[631],{"type":577,"attrs":632},{"href":633,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/price-assessments/cathode/portal/",{"type":567,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":572},"“Europe lags behind China and North America for domestic anode and cathode capacity and Chinese investment is one way to try to catch up,” Benchmark analyst Rob Burrell said.",{"type":617,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"level":619,"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":572},"Relying on Chinese expertise",{"type":567,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":572},"Building out Europe-based capacity may require partnerships with Chinese producers who have a head-start on construction expertise. ",{"type":567,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":572},"Chinese producers see Europe as an attractive target of investment because the region has little domestic capacity but offers guaranteed demand. With superior know-how in capacity-building, they could quickly become a dominant force in the region. ",{"type":567,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657,659,665],{"text":658,"type":572},"Just days before news of XTC and Orano’s cathode joint venture, China’s Prologium ",{"text":660,"type":572,"marks":661},"announced a 5.2 billion euros ($5.7 billion) investment",[662],{"type":577,"attrs":663},{"href":664,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/prologiums-e5-2-billion-french-plant-advances-commercialisation-of-solid-state-batteries",{"text":666,"type":572}," into a new French solid-state gigafactory. ",{"type":567,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":572},"In Finland, Chinese maker Easpring Material Technology is planning its first European cathode manufacturing plant while Putailai plans to build a $1.5 billion 19,500tpa anode plant in Sweden.",{"type":567,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":572},"However, Europe’s domestic output is still expected to fall short of regional demand by more than 80% at the end of this decade.",{"type":617,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"level":619,"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":572},"European domestic supply to fall short of demand",{"type":567,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685],{"text":686,"type":572},"Planned capacity at the XTC-Orano site has not yet been announced. However, Orano said that the joint venture would contribute towards developing the French value chain in EV battery production and recycling, as well as to “French autonomy in the supply of strategic materials.”",{"type":567,"attrs":688,"content":689},{"textAlign":49},[690],{"text":691,"type":572},"Europe-based plants will supply just 3% of world supply in active cathode materials by the end of 2023, according to Benchmark’s weighted estimates. ",{"type":567,"attrs":693,"content":694},{"textAlign":49},[695],{"text":696,"type":572},"European companies fare better on the world stage. Around 4% of 2023’s world supply in active cathode materials will come from European companies, with big names like Umicore already operating cathode material plants in Asia. ",{"type":567,"attrs":698,"content":699},{"textAlign":49},[700],{"text":701,"type":572},"However, Europe’s supply security depends on increasing output from facilities within its own borders, as plants tend to sell into the markets where they are based. ",{"type":567,"attrs":703,"content":704},{"textAlign":49},[705],{"text":706,"type":572},"Europe-based active cathode material supply is set to reach only 17% of total European demand in 2030, according to Benchmark data.","France is set to build its first lithium cathode material plant thanks to a joint venture signed between Chinese battery materials supplier XTC New Energy Materials and French nuclear fuel cycle specialist Orano. The companies have announced they will invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) into a cathode active material and precursor factory, both to […]",[709],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":710},{"job_title":558,"image":711,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"efa25b47-ce38-42f3-b83b-1c6fd2210a24\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[715,718],{"slug":716,"name":717},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":719,"name":298},"cathode","private",{"id":49,"alt":722,"name":722,"focus":722,"title":722,"source":722,"filename":723,"copyright":722,"fieldtype":724,"meta_data":725,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/d296f8bfd8/bm-french-ev.jpg","asset",{"alt":722,"title":722,"source":722,"copyright":722},"May 19, 2023","19th May 2023",[],[],1784908381719]