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good thing about US customers is that they have scale.” Q&A with Epsilon’s Vikram Handa ","the-good-thing-about-us-customers-is-that-they-have-scale-qa-with-epsilons-vikram-handa","article/the-good-thing-about-us-customers-is-that-they-have-scale-qa-with-epsilons-vikram-handa",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":569,"content":579,"excerpt":794,"featured":50,"reporter":795,"_editable":799,"component":800,"seo_title":553,"categories":801,"visibility":809,"author_company":49,"featured_image":810,"seo_description":794,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":815,"formattedArticleDate":816},"631d8ce0-4b9a-4359-94f1-568af9df6b49","2023-11-02 00:00",[560,563,566],{"slug":561,"name":562},"india","India",{"slug":564,"name":565},"qa","Q&A",{"slug":567,"name":568},"usa","USA",[570],{"slug":571,"name":572,"content":573},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":574,"image":575,"bio":577,"linkedin":578},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":576},"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":580,"content":581},"doc",[582,599,604,609,614,621,634,639,644,649,654,659,664,677,690,695,700,705,710,715,720,725,730,743,756,761,766,771,776,781],{"type":583,"attrs":584,"content":585},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[586,589,597],{"text":587,"type":588},"Last month India’s Epsilon Advanced Materials announced it would build a ","text",{"text":590,"type":588,"marks":591},"$650 million synthetic graphite",[592],{"type":593,"attrs":594},"link",{"href":595,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/indias-epsilon-to-build-650-million-anode-plant-in-north-carolina","url",{"text":598,"type":588}," anode plant in North Carolina. ",{"type":583,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602],{"text":603,"type":588},"It is the largest investment by an Indian company in the US electric vehicle market and is set to produce 50,000 tonnes a year of anode active material starting in 2026. ",{"type":583,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":588},"Mumbai-headquartered Epsilon Advanced Materials is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Epsilon Carbon and makes synthetic and natural graphite anodes from its factory in Vijaynagar, Karnataka, India. Its parent Epsilon Carbon is a maker of coal tar derivatives.",{"type":583,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":49},[612],{"text":613,"type":588},"Benchmark Source sat down with Vikram Handa, managing director at Epsilon Advanced Materials, to learn more. ",{"type":615,"attrs":616,"content":618},"heading",{"level":617,"textAlign":49},4,[619],{"text":620,"type":588},"China recently announced it would introduce permits for exports of some graphite products. What do you think of the move?",{"type":583,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624,626,632],{"text":625,"type":588},"We’ve been working on this US project for more than a year. We’ve gone from a hundred sites to two to three and finally to one. Our announcement is not linked to this move, but this restriction is very concerning, because graphite processing into active anode material is ",{"text":627,"type":588,"marks":628},"very skewed towards China",[629],{"type":593,"attrs":630},{"href":631,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/china-graphite-export-restrictions-could-hinder-ex-china-anode-development",{"text":633,"type":588},". These are plants where technology is a challenge and it takes time to set them up because they are big infrastructure projects. ",{"type":583,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":588},"I was really surprised at the restrictions because it’s a very bold move to block a material that is not available outside China. They want to control the supply chain and they’re looking to restrict the export of graphite materials that make high performance cells or materials that give you a high capacity or a fast charge. These materials are in high demand in Europe and the US mainly for electric vehicles. They don’t mind giving you a B-grade graphite that makes a B-grade cell. ",{"type":615,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":588},"Do you see any immediate impact?",{"type":583,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":588},"I don’t think there’ll be an immediate impact on prices. On the supply side too there is no huge demand as many gigafactories are still being built. That gives the outlook on what will happen in 2025. Today most of the graphite is coming from China and a lot of the Koreans are very comfortable buying it from China. Now they need to start thinking about a plan B. I will be more worried about 2025 rather than December 2023.",{"type":615,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":588},"Do you have customers with guaranteed demand yet?",{"type":583,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":588},"We are at sample C qualification at tonne level with customers now and we hope to get into offtakes very soon. In my opinion, we will be sold out in the next three to four months. These are mainly Korean cell companies that are supplying US auto OEMs.",{"type":615,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":588},"Will automakers pay more for US-based supply? Is there a green premium? ",{"type":583,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667,669,675],{"text":668,"type":588},"I don’t think there’s anything like a green premium out there. Is there a premium for the ex-China supply? Not necessarily either. Everybody’s under pricing pressure and customers need to find affordable materials. The only way to reduce cost is scale. And the ",{"text":670,"type":588,"marks":671},"good thing about the US customers",[672],{"type":593,"attrs":673},{"href":674,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/five-reasons-western-automakers-face-a-synthetic-graphite-problem",{"text":676,"type":588}," is they have scale. ",{"type":583,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680,682,688],{"text":681,"type":588},"In ",{"text":683,"type":588,"marks":684},"India, if I find a one gigawatt-hour (GWh) customer",[685],{"type":593,"attrs":686},{"href":687,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/india-is-far-behind-in-race-to-build-battery-supply-chain-epsilon-says",{"text":689,"type":588},", in the US I find a 25 GWh customer. And it is the scale that helps you reduce price. When we look at our business, we want to be competitive with China. A lower carbon footprint can help get a small premium, but it is not like you can double the price. Customers cannot afford that.",{"type":615,"attrs":691,"content":692},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[693],{"text":694,"type":588},"It’s been a year since Epsilon and the Finnish Minerals Group announced an anode material memorandum of understanding. What’s the latest update? ",{"type":583,"attrs":696,"content":697},{"textAlign":49},[698],{"text":699,"type":588},"We’re currently in the process of obtaining the necessary permits. In Finland, securing permits tends to be a time-consuming process. We successfully completed our initial public hearing earlier this year, and the next hearing is scheduled for February 2024. ",{"type":583,"attrs":701,"content":702},{"textAlign":49},[703],{"text":704,"type":588},"We aim to secure the permit by the end of the coming year. While the pace may be a bit slower, we’re committed to the permitting, engineering, and feasibility processes for this excellent project.",{"type":583,"attrs":706,"content":707},{"textAlign":49},[708],{"text":709,"type":588},"We’re debating the capacity. Eventually it will be a 50,000 tonnes a year plant. As we engage with customers we are trying to decide what capacity we should build in phase one. The customers are from gigafactories and auto OEMs. These are customers who we will first supply from India and then move the order book to Finland.",{"type":615,"attrs":711,"content":712},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[713],{"text":714,"type":588},"Could you provide details on your capacity ramp up over the years?",{"type":583,"attrs":716,"content":717},{"textAlign":49},[718],{"text":719,"type":588},"Right now, if we look at India, Finland and the US, it’s 200,000 tonnes. We are at 500 tonnes this year, which is our customer qualification plan. So, that’s our current capacity. In 2025 we should make 30,000 tonnes, and 60,000 tonnes in 2026, and 70,000 tonnes to 90,000 tonnes in 2027, depending upon the Finland capacity. Once the first phase is set up, the next phase becomes easy. The real big growth would happen between 2027 to 2030.",{"type":615,"attrs":721,"content":722},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[723],{"text":724,"type":588},"Could you also talk about the cathode R&D centre acquisition in Germany. How does Epsilon plan to unlock the value in the cathode space given that the supply chain requirements are different from those of the anode? ",{"type":583,"attrs":726,"content":727},{"textAlign":49},[728],{"text":729,"type":588},"If you look at our anode journey, it all starts from the waste coming out of the steel plant. We take coal tar, we make our own coke and convert that into anode material. We are the only anode company in the world that is backward integrated into making its own coke.",{"type":583,"attrs":731,"content":732},{"textAlign":49},[733,735,741],{"text":734,"type":588},"I did not see value in nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) at all and decided to ",{"text":736,"type":588,"marks":737},"focus on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) to differentiate",[738],{"type":593,"attrs":739},{"href":740,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/indias-reliance-to-build-lfp-battery-factory-as-ambani-targets-clean-energy-push",{"text":742,"type":588}," ourselves. We have identified waste streams of iron coming out of the steel plants. How do we quickly convert this high purity waste stream into cathode active materials (CAM)? And when we engaged with technology suppliers, mainly in China, we realised that there are a lot of different ways to make CAM. I felt that we have some unique raw material, which has a very low carbon footprint and is cost competitive. That’s when we started looking at Johnson Matthey’s LFP cathode active material technology centre in Moosburg, Germany.",{"type":583,"attrs":744,"content":745},{"textAlign":49},[746,748,754],{"text":747,"type":588},"This acquisition is unique because it has developed a great product, which is mostly qualified with customers already. So, our goal is now to acquire this unit to re-qualify the customers after Johnson Matthey exited the business. The idea is to build a large-scale plant in India…a 30,000 tonne plant in ",{"text":749,"type":588,"marks":750},"India ",[751],{"type":593,"attrs":752},{"href":753,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/tatas-10000-ev-set-to-boost-india-ev-market-but-domestic-battery-supply-lags",{"text":755,"type":588},"which will eventually be increased to 100,000 tonnes. ",{"type":583,"attrs":757,"content":758},{"textAlign":49},[759],{"text":760,"type":588},"Iron will be local, phosphoric acid will be local. The lithium carbonate has to be imported. But the lithium is such a big piece of the cathode that if the lithium comes from a Free Trade Agreement country, that CAM made in India will be Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) compliant. It’s very unique, if you can build in India with India’s capital expenditure and operating expenses structure… it would feed right into being IRA compliant.",{"type":615,"attrs":762,"content":763},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[764],{"text":765,"type":588},"India does not currently benefit from incentives under the IRA but it could be a great candidate for a free trade agreement partner when it comes to critical battery minerals. What do you think?",{"type":583,"attrs":767,"content":768},{"textAlign":49},[769],{"text":770,"type":588},"That’s a very important point, which we keep discussing in India as well. Why shouldn’t India and the US have a Critical Minerals Agreement (CMA), so that everything made in India gets the IRA benefit? I think it’s a lack of awareness that this dialogue has not happened.  ",{"type":583,"attrs":772,"content":773},{"textAlign":49},[774],{"text":775,"type":588},"The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) signing was a great step. MSP is a good framework. I think the next step after MSP is a CMA. I think it will benefit the US and help develop India’s ecosystem. ",{"type":615,"attrs":777,"content":778},{"level":617,"textAlign":49},[779],{"text":780,"type":588},"How is the government incentivising the buildout of India’s supply chain? ",{"type":583,"attrs":782,"content":783},{"textAlign":49},[784,786,792],{"text":785,"type":588},"Currently, the incentives provided are quite inadequate, that’s how I would describe it. When I mention this, I’m not solely considering government incentives but also the role of customers in incentivising suppliers. It’s about encouraging us to build by committing to purchase the products. Unfortunately, no ",{"text":787,"type":588,"marks":788},"Indian customer",[789],{"type":593,"attrs":790},{"href":791,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":596},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/electric-scooters-to-dominate-indias-roads-by-2025-ola-says",{"text":793,"type":588}," has offered a commitment to purchase battery materials from any company within India. This scenario is indeed disappointing.","Last month India’s Epsilon Advanced Materials announced it would build a $650 million synthetic graphite anode plant in North Carolina. It is the largest investment by an Indian company in the US electric vehicle market and is set to produce 50,000 tonnes a year of anode active material starting in 2026. Mumbai-headquartered Epsilon Advanced Materials […]",[796],{"slug":571,"name":572,"content":797},{"job_title":574,"image":798,"bio":577,"linkedin":578},{"filename":576},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"631d8ce0-4b9a-4359-94f1-568af9df6b49\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[802,804,807],{"slug":803,"name":263},"anode",{"slug":805,"name":806},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":808,"name":299},"cathode","private",{"id":49,"alt":811,"name":811,"focus":811,"title":811,"source":811,"filename":812,"copyright":811,"fieldtype":813,"meta_data":814,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/139e25ee83/bm-vikram-handa-md-epsilon.jpg","asset",{"alt":811,"title":811,"source":811,"copyright":811},"Nov 02, 2023","2nd November 2023",[],[],1792773908621]