At its latest Capital Markets Day, Merck KGaA said that it is “in a strong strategic position” to profit from medium-term growth opportunities in all three of its business sectors after a transitional year in 2023. “We committed to return to growth in 2024 and this is materialising already,” said Belén Garijo, CEO and chair (pictured).

Posco Future M has conducted the initial shipment of products from its 30,000 tonnes/year nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) cathode material plant in Pohang, South Korea. This was built to supply Samsung SDI with materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, following a $2.9 billion supply agreement in January 2023.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has agreed to acquire Arcadium Lithium, the company created by the merger of Livent and Allkem in January, for $5.85/share, which represents a 90% premium to Arcadium’s share price before the deal was announced. The offer values the firm at about $6.7 billion. Both boards have recommended it to shareholders.

Chemours has opened Chemours Battery Innovation Centre (CBIC) at the Chemours Discovery Hub in Newark, Delaware. CBIC will support the testing and scaling of next-generation lithium-ion battery technologies to produce batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. The investment was said to be of multi-million dollars.

Arcadium Lithium, the company formed by the merger of Livent and Allkem at the start of the year, has acquired the lithium metal business of Li-Metal for $11 million. This includes a pilot production facility in Ontario. Li-Metal founder and CTO Maciej Jastrzebski has entered into a consulting agreement to facilitate the transfer of technology and integrate the team.

Merck KGaA is to sell its global Surface Solutions business unit to Global New Material International Holdings (GNMI), one of the world’s largest pearlescent pigment producers, for €665 million in cash, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. This includes works council agreement for the French part of the business, which is not yet part of the deal but is subject to a binding agreement.

Following laboratory trials Integrals Power, a next-generation battery nanomaterials company, has started production of its proprietary advanced cathode active materials (CAMs) at its pilot plant in Milton Keynes. This is one of the first of its kind in the UK and has been developed with localising the supply chain. All of the materials are sourced form European and North American suppliers.