Finland | www.bestmag.co.uk

OEM supplier Valmet Automotive to build battery packs in Finland

Tier 1 supplier Valmet Automotive is launching its first lithium-ion battery pack production facility in Finland within months to supply the electric vehicle market.

The facility, in a former Nokia plant, is scheduled to start commercialisation around October-November in the municipality of Salo— where it will produce around 600,000 battery packs per year.

Valmet Automotive

Lithium-ion

battery

Finland

electric vehicle

Umicore expands battery materials business with cobalt deal

Belgium’s Umicore is to acquire Freeport Cobalt’s cobalt refining and cathode precursor activities in Finland as an “important step” toward expanding the company’s battery materials business.

The deal, which is expected to be finalised by the end of 2019, is for a total consideration of US$150 million on a debt and cash free basis, plus the value of the working capital to be taken over at closing, which at the end of March was approximately $40m.

Finnish partners promote EV battery materials recycling

Finnish companies Fortum and Crisolteq have teamed up to launch a materials recovery process claimed to make more than 80% of electric vehicle (EV) batteries recyclable.

Power company Fortum said the technology uses “a low-CO2 hydrometallurgical process”, developed by metal recycling services firm Crisolteq, to recover scarce battery metals such as cobalt, nickel, manganese and lithium.

lithium-ion batteries

Finnish mining firm eyes lithium hydroxide production

Finnish mining company Keliber Oy has launched a pilot-scale programme for the possible production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

Keliber said the project with Outotec Finland will form part of technical and economic studies to evaluate the feasibility of production.

Finland

eu

lithium mining

BASF to build battery materials plant in Finland

German chemical company BASF is to build a battery materials production plant— its first serving the European automotive market— in Harjavalta, Finland.

The plant will be built adjacent to a nickel and cobalt refinery owned by Russian mining firm Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel), as part of BASF’s €400 million (US$456.2m) multi-step investment plan to supply European battery cell manufacturers with regionally-manufactured cathode materials.

Study backs Finnish lithium bid to mine batteries market

There is a “profitable business case” for developing a lithium project in Finland to supply high-quality battery materials for Europe’s “fast-developing lithium markets”, according to the firm behind the project.

Finnish mining company Keliber Oy said a definitive feasibility study indicates the project could make the firm Europe’s “first vertically integrated battery grade lithium carbonate producer”.

lithium carbonate

Finland

lithium-ion batteries

materials

europe

Keliber Oy

Chinese battery maker muscles into European EV market

Lithium battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) has bought a large stake in a Finnish firm as it looks to move into the European electric vehicle market.

The Ningde, China-based battery maker bought a 22% stake in the auto supplier for an undisclosed fee, reported newswire Reuters.

lithium battery

Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited