Battery firm Clarios will close its Florence Recycling Center in the US on 22 March to ‘strengthen’ its position as a ‘global leader in advanced battery technologies’.
Although the reasons for the closure are opaque, Clarios— previously known as Johnson Controls Power Solutions— will maintain emissions controls and legal and regulatory obligations at the site in South Carolina, through closure.
The company’s communications manager Aimee Iverson could not give information on how many tonnes of automotive batteries the plant recycled each year, but when it was opened in 2012 by Johnson Controls the plant could handle 132,000 metric tons, or more than 14 million batteries, per year.
A company statement said: “The decision to permanently close a plant is not one we made lightly, but we are confident that it is necessary to strengthen our position as a global leader in advanced battery technologies.”
Perhaps the path to strengthening its position in the global market will be helped by the appointment of Dr. Werner Benade as vice president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Clarios was bought by Brookfeild Asest Management in May 2019 for $13.2 billion.
An industry expert told BEST the closure should not have a big impact on the lead markets as the scrap batteries would be redistributed to plants in the US and Calrios’ facility in Mexico.
The expert did warn that battery production would need to be stepped up at the Mexican plant to compensate for the loss of the Florence output, as well as potentially increasing output in its European and China plants.
