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boosts Europe battery supply chain with Umicore cathode JV","vw-boosts-europe-battery-supply-chain-with-umicore-jv","article/vw-boosts-europe-battery-supply-chain-with-umicore-jv",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":708,"featured":50,"reporter":709,"_editable":713,"component":714,"seo_title":553,"categories":715,"visibility":724,"author_company":49,"featured_image":725,"seo_description":708,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":730,"formattedArticleDate":731},"3e7ad95a-1de3-40fd-ab18-5a9cc0f93f31","2021-12-08 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"europe","Europe",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"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":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,583,588,603,608,613,618,623,630,635,640,645,650,655,660,665,678,683,688,693,698,703],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582},"Volkswagen (VW) has agreed to form a joint venture with Umicore to produce cathode materials for its electric vehicles, in a deal that would double Europe’s planned production capacity by 2030.","text",{"type":577,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":582},"The German automaker said the JV would start producing enough material for 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries in 2025, scaling up to 160 GWh by the end of the decade, which would supply about 2.2 million electric vehicles.",{"type":577,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591,593,601],{"text":592,"type":582},"The agreement ",{"text":594,"type":582,"marks":595}," is the latest tie-up between automakers and cathode producers, ",[596],{"type":597,"attrs":598},"link",{"href":599,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":600},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/gm-steps-up-us-battery-supply-chain-plans-with-posco-cathode-agreement","url",{"text":602,"type":582},"following a deal between General Motors and South Korea’s Posco this month. It highlights how cathode makers are positioning themselves to be closer to battery and car production.",{"type":577,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":582},"Such deals allow automakers to secure supplies of battery cathode, while giving cathode makers greater insight over the development of battery chemistries, Umicore’s chief executive Mathias Miedreich said.",{"type":577,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":582},"“The OEMS are stepping more into the battery value chain,” Miedrich said. “Security of supply is the first reason … no one wants to repeat the painful experience of the semiconductor shortage.”",{"type":577,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":582},"VW plans to build six battery factories in Europe this decade as it aims to surpass Tesla as the world’s predominant maker of electric vehicles. Starting in 2025, production of its own battery cells will start in Salzgitter, Germany.",{"type":577,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":582},"“This is the next logical step towards vertical integration of the supply chain, having already decided to set-up large-scale, in-house production of the unified [battery] cell,” Volkswagen said about the JV with Umicore.",{"type":624,"attrs":625,"content":627},"heading",{"level":626,"textAlign":49},4,[628],{"text":629,"type":582},"Deal would require 135,000 tonnes of nickel per year",{"type":577,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":582},"A target of 160 GWh would equate to around 250,000 tonnes of cathode material, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. At the moment Europe is set to have just over 250,000 tonnes of cathode production by 2030, excluding any additional plans from the Umicore-VW JV, according to Benchmark’s Cathode Assessment.",{"type":577,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":582},"Metting the target would require 135,000 tonnes per year of nickel, 20,000 tonnes of cobalt, 20,000 tonnes of manganese and 150,000 tonnes of lithium a year, assuming a high nickel chemistry, Benchmark calculates.",{"type":577,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":582},"VW said it would also work with Umicore to secure sustainable and “responsibly sourced” raw materials at “competitive prices.”",{"type":624,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"level":626,"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":582},"Shares in Umicore fall by 9%",{"type":577,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":582},"Umicore said the JV would target “next-generation technologies” including high-nickel chemistries. The company admitted it had been too slow in developing high nickel battery chemistries and forecast lower earnings for this year and next from the battery materials business as a result.",{"type":577,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":582},"Shares in Umicore fell by 9% on Wednesday to finish the day at €40.75.",{"type":577,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":582},"“We should have been faster in providing this technology to the market,” Meidreich, who started as CEO in October, said. “We did not react fast enough on the changing trend.”",{"type":577,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668,670,676],{"text":669,"type":582},"Last month Johnson Matthey",{"text":671,"type":582,"marks":672}," said it would exit its high nickel cathode business due to rising competition",[673],{"type":597,"attrs":674},{"href":675,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":600},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/johnson-matthey-exits-battery-materials-business-in-blow-to-europe",{"text":677,"type":582},", calling it a “high volume, commoditised market.”",{"type":577,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":582},"Miedreich denied that the market had become commoditised, however, saying it would be “very difficult” for other customers to compete with the JV as the cathode product would be specifically designed for VW.",{"type":577,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686],{"text":687,"type":582},"Anthony Kim, president of South Korea’s EcoPro Innovation, told Benchmark on Tuesday that joint ventures between car makers and cathode manufacturers would increase, as it allowed them to cooperate to secure raw materials.",{"type":577,"attrs":689,"content":690},{"textAlign":49},[691],{"text":692,"type":582},"Umicore said the two companies have not yet decided on a location for the JV, although an expansion of Umicore’s cathode plant in Poland is a possibility.",{"type":577,"attrs":694,"content":695},{"textAlign":49},[696],{"text":697,"type":582},"Umicore has said its Polish plant, which is set to start production next year, would be able to produce “all grades” of nickel manganese cobalt chemistries (NCM), including high manganese chemistries.",{"type":577,"attrs":699,"content":700},{"textAlign":49},[701],{"text":702,"type":582},"European automakers would prefer to use high manganese chemistries rather than lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) for their lower-cost vehicles since they were easier to recycle, he said.",{"type":577,"attrs":704,"content":705},{"textAlign":49},[706],{"text":707,"type":582},"Umicore said it was also in “advanced planning” to build a cathode plant in North America, with Canada a likely location due to its supplies of renewable energy.","Volkswagen (VW) has agreed to form a joint venture with Umicore to produce cathode materials for its electric vehicles, in a deal that would double Europe’s planned production capacity by 2030. The German automaker said the JV would start producing enough material for 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries in 2025, scaling up to 160 GWh […]",[710],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":711},{"job_title":568,"image":712,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"3e7ad95a-1de3-40fd-ab18-5a9cc0f93f31\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[716,719,721],{"slug":717,"name":718},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":720,"name":300},"cathode",{"slug":722,"name":723},"gigafactories","Battery & Gigafactory","private",{"id":49,"alt":726,"name":726,"focus":726,"title":726,"source":726,"filename":727,"copyright":726,"fieldtype":728,"meta_data":729,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/8e5d54924c/bm-db2021nr00451-small-1.jpg","asset",{"alt":726,"title":726,"source":726,"copyright":726},"Dec 08, 2021","8th December 2021",[],[],1790082840582]