CNGR to build battery materials factory in Morocco

CNGR Advanced Materials and the African investor Al Mada are planning a joint venture to produce battery materials in Morocco. The exact location for the plant has already been announced, as has the start of production - provided the official permits are granted in time.

The Chinese battery materials company CNGR Advanced Materials has announced the production of battery components for electric vehicles in Morocco. For this purpose, CNGR wants to set up a joint venture with Al Mada, one of Africa’s largest private investment funds. CNGR and Al Mada plan to build a plant in Jorf Lasfar in the El Jadida region of Morocco to process national raw materials (especially cobalt, phosphate and manganese) into battery components.

The focus will be on producing precursors for NCM and LFP cathode materials. The plant will also include recycling facilities. The companies are planning with annual capacities of 120,000 tonnes for NCM precursors, 60,000 tonnes for LFP precursors and 30,000 tonnes for the recycling of battery materials in the first phase. The planned annual production is 70 GWh. That should be enough for more than one million electric vehicles.

Production is mainly for export to meet the high demand in Europe and America – but the partners do not name potential customers. The investment volume is about 20 billion Moroccan dirhams (1.8 billion euros). Construction will begin this year after the necessary permits have been obtained and production is scheduled to start in 2025.

The two partners are currently negotiating with the OCP Group to purchase the necessary raw materials, including phosphate products. Other suppliers, such as for cobalt and manganese products, are not named in the announcement.

Jorf Lasfar is located directly on the Atlantic coast, and a seaport is also available in El Jadida. So far, Jorf Lasfar is known mainly for the country’s largest coal-fired power plant. However, the two companies do not provide any information on the energy supply for the planned battery materials factory in their communication.

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