Finnish Minerals and Beijing Easpring in jv to advance EUR700 mn CAM plant
In November 2021, Finnish Minerals Group announced that it was negotiating with China-based Beijing Easpring Material Technology on the possibility to establish a cathode active materials (CAM) plant in Kotka, Finland. The parties have now agreed to set up a joint venture company by the end of 2023, of which Beijing Easpring Material Technology will own 70% and Finnish Minerals Group 30%.
The plant’s planning has been based on a production of 50,000 tonnes/year and the potential of expanding capacity in the future. The CAM plant planned in Kotka and a pCAM plant planned in Hamina will form one of the largest clusters of battery material plants in Europe.
The initial investment will be approximately EUR774 million and the planned production will meet the cathode material need of more than 750,000 full electric vehicles/year. The production capacity of the plant can be expanded in the future.
The pCAM plant, which produces precursor cathode active material, is planned to be implemented in Hamina by CNGR Finland Oy, a new company established by Finnish Minerals Group and China-based CNGR Advanced Material in 2022. Finnish Materials Group owns 40% of that joint venture.
Battery material plants located close to each other have a good chance of benefiting from one another. The material produced in Hamina can be utilized in the production of the Kotka cathode active material plant, which helps in managing logistics costs and the carbon footprint.
The project will next move to more detailed planning and to the permitting phase, in which the joint venture company prepares to submit, for example, the construction and environmental permit applications for the plant. The preparatory works at the Keltakallio industrial site were already started at the end of 2021, and the site levelling and preparation works will continue through summer 2023.
Once operational, the plant will employ approximately 360 people. It will boost the economy in the region already in the construction phase through direct impacts as well as multiplicative effects from the production and expenses.
Founded in 2001, Beijing Easpring is a developer, manufacturer, and supplier of lithium-ion battery cathode materials. The company was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. It currently has production facilities in Changzhou and Haimen in Jiangsu province, and Panzhihua in Sichuan province.
