Korea’s LG Chem has broken ground on a nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminium cathode materials facility on a 170 hectare site in Clarksville, Tennessee. Starting in 2026, this will supply 60,000 tonnes/year of battery materials, enough for about 600,000 electric vehicles, and will be the largest of its type in the US.

ICL has announced plans to invest $30 million to develop a customer innovation and qualification centre (CIQC) for the energy storage systems market in North America. This should become “a hub for ICL, its partners and its customers, as the company looks to make significant advancements in its battery materials R&D capabilities”, ICL said.

Clariant has decided to close its Sunliquid bioethanol plant in Podari, Romania. This followed a review that concluded that the economics of the plant could not justify the additional capital expenditure needed to continue the ramp-up.

The company will also downsize the related activities of the Biofuels & Derivatives business line at three sits in Germany. The required capabilities to maintain the technology and to fulfil existing contractual obligations will be kept.

Kemira has agreed to divest its oil and gas chemicals portfolio to Sterling Specialty Chemicals, a US subsidiary of India’s Artek Group for €260 million subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The company said that this will enable it “to focus on its core businesses and accelerate its profitable growth strategy”. The two parties expect to complete by the end of Q1 2024.

‘Carbon negative’ materials company Origin Materials has announced an organisational realignment. With immediate effect, the California-based firm has cut the workforce by about 30%. It will will incur about $500,000 in severance costs and about $2.2 million “for the accelerated vesting of certain equity awards”.

Evonik has revealed that it is building a $7.9 million plant to produce ultra-high purity colloidal silica at its site in Weston, Michigan. Due onstream in 2024, this will be the first of its kind in North America. The investment was supported by a $900,000 performance-based grant under the Michigan Business Development Programme.

During its Q4 earnings update, Ashland announced plans for a series of “portfolio optimisation actions to further strengthen the company’s resilience and improve margins and returns in this uncertain environment”. These are expected to improve adjusted EBITDA margins by about 2% and returns on net assets by 1.5-2%.