Chemical company BASF announced a new battery materials production site in Schwarzheide, Germany, as part of its multi-step investment in Europe’s EV value chain. The new plant will produce cathode active materials with an initial capacity enabling the supply of around 400,000 pure EVs per year with BASF battery materials.

The company says the Schwarzheide plant’s modular design and infrastructure allow for the rapid scale-up of manufacturing capacities, enabling it to meet increasing customer demand in the European EV market. The plant will use precursors from BASF’s previously announced plant in Harjavalta, Finland. Startup of the two plants is planned for 2022.

With these investments in Finland and Germany, BASF says it will be the first cathode active materials supplier with local production capacities in today’s three major markets—Asia, the US and Europe. BASF plans to become the leading supplier with a reliable European-based supply chain comprised of base metal supply, particularly nickel and cobalt, precursor production, and cathode material production within one region.

“The plants in Finland and Germany will offer our customers reliable access to tailored high-nickel cathode active materials in proximity to their European manufacturing facilities,” said Dr. Peter Schuhmacher, President of the Catalysts division at BASF. 

Source: BASF
Image: BASF SE