€800M battery material plant to be built in Finland
Finnish Minerals Group and Beijing Easpring Material Technology have decided to start construction on a cathode active material (CAM) plant Kotka, Finland.
The plant’s first-stage capacity will be 60,000 tonnes of cathode active material per year – which is needed to produce lithium-ion batteries. The plans also include the possibility of expanding production in the future.
The investment project is carried out by Easpring Finland New Materials Oy, established in 2024, of which Finnish Minerals Group owns 30% and Beijing Easpring Material Technology owns 70%.
The value of the investment project is said to be about EUR 800 million. In addition to the funding from the owners, the project will seek financing through external loans and the clean transition aid scheme for industrial investments. To implement the project, the Finnish State will capitalise Finnish Minerals Group with EUR 100 million.
“Our partner, Beijing Easpring Material Technology, is one of the world's leading companies developing and producing cathode active material, and we have been cooperating with them for several years. With the Kotka CAM plant, we are creating an entirely new kind of industry in Finland related to the production of lithium-ion batteries,” says Matti Hietanen, CEO of Finnish Minerals Group, in a press release. “Even on a European scale, the plant is a spearhead project for the industry and an important step forward for the Finnish battery value chain and battery business.”
At first-stage capacity, the plant would directly employ approximately 270 people. The construction will start in the spring of 2025, and the goal is to launch commercial production in 2027.
