RE:RE:RE:governmentsMaybe Umicore should just have bought ELBM with the bushels of Federal and Provincial handouts, to cut time to production, and increase foreign ownership and competition designed to suffocate Canadian enterprise.
Then again, at the current rate, the plant in Kingston may be up and running before the Cobalt venture sets a match to its wick.
Construction on Umicore’s 350-acre site is expected to begin next year and be completed by 2025. The plant will be capable of supporting automakers who build a million electric vehicles each year, almost 20 per cent of projected North American production at the end of the decade.
Brussels-based Umicore is the only large battery component producer headquartered outside of China, and Mr. Champagne said the company’s decision to expand in Canada shows a shift in thinking around global supply chains that began with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Champagne said: “For manufacturers, the emphasis now is on resilience over efficiency.”