PTL’s proposed plant in Sweden shelved
Blow for the Chinese battery maker and the local economy, as PTL is been forced to scrap plans to open a raw materials plant in Sweden.
The Swedish government has pulled the plug on plans by PTL to establish a factory near Timrå in Northern Sweden. The Chinese battery manufacturer has had to shelve the project as a result of stringent government security requirements, resulting in the loss of 2,000 potential jobs.
The establishment of the factory in Torsboda was announced in 2023, with an initial target completion date in late 2025 or early 2026. The proposed factory was intended to produce raw materials for electric car batteries, with a total investment of some €1.13 billion and the creation of over 2,000 jobs. However, the government has rejected the plan, with PTL claiming it is impossible to meet all the authority’s conditions, which include the need to find a Swedish partner for the project.
Andreas Hamrin, spokesperson for PTL Sweden nevertheless expressed hope that the project is not completely dead in the water without being specific on the demands from the government’s side.
“We are convinced that there is a solution that everyone can be satisfied with, and then we think it is good to tell what kind of requirements we have received” he told SVT.
One major condition involves regulating the influence of the Chinese parent company, necessitating a Swedish partner to assume significant financial responsibility within a very short timeframe, which PTL claim is unfeasible.
For now, the future of the project looks increasingly uncertain, although the decision has been appealed to the Swedish government.
