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The battery materials company Redwood Materials will supply the Japanese battery producer Panasonic's new plant in Kansas City with high nickel cathode material from its new cathode production plant which is under construction in Nevada. It will be the first time an American producer supplies a large scale battery plant with cathode materials.
Panasonic Energy plans to begin mass production at the plant in Kansas by March 2025. Upon completion of the facility, it will maintain annual total production capacity of approximately 30 GWh to supply EV manufacturers across the United States.
To Bloomberg Redwood says the cathode material it will supply to Panasonic will be made with 100% recycled cobalt and 25% to 30% recycled nickel and lithium. Panasonic will also be the first long-term buyer of Redwood's anode copper foil.
Most likely Redwood will be the first western company that started as recycler to supply cathode material to a large-scale battery producer.
The deal follows several announcements of investments in North America from other cathode manufacturers. German specialty chemical company BASF was the first company to announce the construction of a plant in Bécancour in Quebec. Later the South Korean cathode producers Ecopro and POSCO announced plant in the same location, Ecopro together with SK On and Ford, and POSCO in a joint venture with General Motors.
Sources are also saying LG Chem is to establish its first US-based cathode production in Tennessee. All of these companies are today in some way involved in recycling either through internal operations or through partnerships.
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