Monday, April 19, 2021

"Western Europe claims 43% of global investments in battery manufacturing projects — report"

And China is the world's largest producer of batteries and has the lion's (Li ion?) share of the battery materials supply chain.

From Mining.com April 15:

In 2020, Fitch Solutions analysts recorded 37 manufacturing projects for EV batteries and related components and materials worth $21.04 billion, for those projects disclosing financial details.

The projects range from the production of battery cells and packs themselves, to anode materials and battery trays, and give an idea of which regions are most active in developing a localised supply chain and which countries are the biggest beneficiaries within those regions.

Western Europe claimed both the biggest number of projects with 17, and the biggest combined value with $9.1 billion. This gave the region a 43.5% share of the total global investment into battery manufacturing projects, Fitch reports.

On a country level, Germany led the region with 10 of the 17 projects recorded. The biggest project in Germany is SVOLT’s $2 billion battery cell plant with a capacity of 24GWh per year.

This activity in Germany is reflective of the drive by the country’s major automakers to invest heavily in manufacturing EVs at their home plants. Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are all present at the table with their own projects for production of battery packs showing the more active role that carmakers are taking in the supply chain, Fitch notes.

In Emerging Europe, the projects are dominated by Hungary and Poland and are mostly in the battery component segment, supplying existing facilities in these countries. This speaks to the strength of these two countries as automotive production locations in general, Fitch says, as well as their ability to move up the value chain with high-tech products....

....MUCH MORE

If interested March 31's "Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi to invest $10 billion in making electric cars" has some of our battery links (we have hundreds, these are some of the most recent) 

Relatedly ZeroHedge was headlining "Shares Of Chinese Battery Maker CATL Surge As Company Said To Be Considered For Apple's EV Project"

CATL is not just a 'Chinese Battery Maker'. It is the largest manufacturer in the world with 28% of the market and the full backing of the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army.
Pretty stiff competition for Goldman-and-VW-backed NorthVolt.