Vulcan Energy Resources and Nobian have announced today that they have signed a term sheet for a proposed strategic partnership aiming to jointly develop and operate a lithium hydroxide plant for electric vehicle batteries in Germany. This builds on 15 months of collaboration between the two firms but is not legally binding on the two parties in most respects.

Merck KGaA has reached an agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support a €300 million investment to expand its semiconductor manufacturing site in Hometown (pictured) by further develop the world's largest integrated speciality gases facility. About 68 new jobs will be created.

This is part of the Electronics business sector’s Level Up growth programme, which envisages spending over €3 billion in innovation and capacity expansion projects in the US, Germany and Asia by the end of 2025. Other investments to date and ongoing include:

The use of renewable carbon from wood to produce biobased products will have a crucial role, argues Martin Ledwon, VP of sustainability at UPM Biorefining

Albemarle has announced plans to locate its previously announced lithium hydroxide ‘Mega-Flex’ facility in Chester County, South Carolina. The initial investment will be at least $1.3 billion, due to surging demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and lithium-ion batteries worldwide.

Pending permitting approvals, the facility will be located within an area of about 320 hectares. It is projected to create more than 300 new, permanent jobs and sustain more than 1,500 construction jobs.

Evonik is making a “mid-double-digit million euro investment” in a production facility for its Aeroxide brand of fumed aluminium oxide at its site in Yokkaichi, Japan (pictured). This will be its first alumina plant in Asia and will be geared to making ultra-thin separator coatings the next generation lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Construction will begin this summer for a scheduled opening in 2025.

Cabot has announced plans for a new technology centre in Münster, Germany, which will focus on technical collaboration with customers on its battery material product lines for electric vehicles (EVs). This is due to begin operations by April 2023, with a planned expansion to be completed in 2024.

Solvay has agreed to source mixed rare earth oxides (rMREOs) recycled from permanent magnets at the Ontario site of Canadian cleantech start-up Cyclic Materials for use in automotive, renewable wind energy and electronics applications at its site in La Rochelle, France (pictured).