Albemarle Corp said it had decided on Chester County, South Carolina, as the area for a $1.3 billion lithium processing plant it hopes will cement its standing as a cornerstone of the fast increasing U.S. electrical car field.
The facility, which was initial introduced very last year with out a certain location, will double the company’s lithium processing capacity and therefore its ability to supply critical shoppers – such as Tesla Inc – who are hungry for extra North American supplies of the battery metal.
Already the world’s greatest lithium producer with major amenities in Chile, China and Australia, Albemarle has moved aggressively to grow in the United States, which it sees as its subsequent major place of advancement thanks to tax credits and other incentives provided by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
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The South Carolina plant will be capable to process 50,000 tons of lithium each individual 12 months from rock Albemarle ideas to mine in North Carolina as very well as from recycled batteries. That’s around adequate of the white steel to make 2.4 EVs on a yearly basis.
“This facility will enable enhance the manufacturing of U.S.-based mostly lithium resources to gas the thoroughly clean electrical power revolution when bringing us nearer to our buyers as the supply chain is created out in North The us,” Albemarle Main Executive Kent Masters stated in a assertion.
Development of the 800-acre challenge is anticipated to begin late future yr, nevertheless the corporation did not present a timeline for when the website will open up. The plant should really use 300 personnel with an average yearly pay back of $93,000.
The organization acquired a lithium processing grant past calendar year from the White Home. In spite of the latest softening in lithium costs, Albemarle has explained it expects need to proceed to rise.
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