Ford pauses construction of Canadian cathode material plant again

Construction of the Ford, SK On and EcoPro BM cathode material plant in Becancour, Canada, has been halted for the second time this year. The cause of this renewed delay appears to be Ford's changed priorities in the electric vehicle sector due to weak demand.

The cathode material plant was initially announced in the summer of 2023, when Ford, SK On and EcoProBM jointly invested 1.2 billion Canadian dollars (about 885.6 million US dollars) in a new cathode material plant in the province of Quebec. Once operational in early 2026, it was to have an annual capacity of 45,000 tonnes of CAM/year. With the current delay, the facility looks likely to open its doors in 2027.

“We remain confident in Quebec’s potential as a cathode manufacturing centre, backed by its clean energy, skilled workforce and strong support from the federal and Quebec governments,” EcoPro said in a statement. While no exact timeline was given for the pause, Quebec’s Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Mathieu St-Amand stated: “We are confident that the project will resume in the coming weeks.”

Due to this being the second interruption of the construction this year, the 2026 production launch is looking less than likely. In April, the construction had to be paused due to issues with selecting a contractor and finalizing the facility’s design. At the time, it was said that the delay was “necessary to carefully analyze the best technological options for the plant’s chemical processes, ensuring that the facility would be equipped to meet future needs.”

This time, the pause has been on since 05 August, with the redesign of the facility planned. This redesign turned out to be a larger analysis, and the EV chasm and changes in battery demand have been cited as key reasons. However, the spokesperson claims that the construction project is merely realigning and will resume once the redesign is finalized.

The decision to adapt its electric vehicle strategy is no surprise at Ford, which has been struggling to make its ‘Model e’ electric vehicle unit profitable. Over the second quarter of 2024, losses deepened for the US manufacturers’ EV division, after Ford had previously dropped its 2030 target of only selling only electric cars in European markets. Another Ford project in Canada was also recently cancelled with the plans for the Oakville facility to become an EV hub scrapped to make space for combustion pickup truck production.

koreaherald.com, lapresse.ca (in French)