Company prioritizing R&D capabilities,
as it looks to lead in North American lithium iron phosphate
battery materials market
ICL (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL), a leading global specialty
minerals company, today announced plans to invest $30 million to
develop a customer innovation and qualification center (CIQC) in
North America, as the company continues to execute on its long-term
plan to provide commercial solutions for the energy storage systems
(ESS) market in the United States. The CIQC is expected to 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.
By working with its technology partners, ICL has developed
know-how that will allow it to reduce cycle time by 50% and also
provide for a significant reduction in power requirements in the
production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP). Advancements like these
are expected to be amplified, once the CIQC is operational, and the
center is expected to be online prior to the company’s
140,000-square-foot LFP battery materials facility, which is
expected to produce 30,000 metric tons of LFP annually. The design
for the LFP plant has been completed and is currently undergoing a
value engineering review to optimize both project costs and
schedule, and this includes options for a more rapid, phased
approach to production start-up.
The CIQC will allow ICL to accelerate its technology progress,
while benefiting ICL battery materials customers, as they look to
innovate and advance their offerings. The company is well
positioned for growth now that it has already secured its first
customer agreement and is working on qualifying additional
potential customers’ requirements. The first multi-year
relationship calls for ICL to supply LFP battery materials for
next-generation battery cell production to a customer in the United
States. Beginning as early as 2025, this offtake agreement is for
supply of up to 10,000 metric tons annually of LFP material, aimed
to comply with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and includes an
option to grow the supply relationship.
Demand for U.S. sourced LFP batteries is expected to continue to
outstrip capacity, given recent guidance from the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) and Department of Treasury (USDT) on foreign entity
of concern (FEOC) participation and qualification of section 30D
clean vehicle tax credit for consumers. The guidance from the DOE
limits the participation of FEOCs in the domestic battery supply
chain and supports the growth of domestic battery materials
processing and manufacturing.
In addition, the USDT and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
recently issued proposed guidance on section 45X advanced
manufacturing production credit to incentivize the production of
eligible battery materials components within the U.S. and
strengthen America’s energy security, while incentivizing onshoring
of clean energy components. ICL believes its ability to benefit
from both of these proposals further strengthens the company’s
business case and cements its position as the first mover in the
LFP battery materials market in the U.S.
“ICL is pleased with the progress we have made with our battery
materials business in 2023, and we look forward to meeting growing
demand from the energy storage, EV and clean-energy industries for
domestically-produced-and-sourced essential battery materials,
through our investment in the first large-scale LFP battery
materials manufacturing plant in the U.S. and through our customer
innovation and qualification center,” said Phil Brown, president of
the Phosphate Specialties and managing director of North America
for ICL.
“The North American LFP market is expected to see growth
exceeding 40% annually until 2030, driven almost evenly by
stationary energy storage and automotive electrification. LFP is
the core lithium-ion battery cathode material used in stationary
storage applications, which are expected to boom in response to the
IRA tax credits that can reduce lithium-ion storage system costs by
up to 60%,” said Jonathon Wright, partner at Roland Berger. “Across
applications, LFP has significant cost, safety and raw material
availability advantages compared to the mainstream nickel manganese
cobalt (NMC) technologies, with major automotive OEMs recently
announcing a shift toward LFP from NMC.”
About ICL
ICL Group is a leading global specialty minerals company, which
creates impactful solutions for humanity's sustainability
challenges in the food, agriculture and industrial markets. ICL
leverages its unique bromine, potash and phosphate resources, its
global professional workforce, and its sustainability focused
R&D and technological innovation capabilities, to drive the
company's growth across its end markets. ICL shares are dual listed
on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
(NYSE and TASE: ICL). The company employs more than 12,500 people
worldwide, and its 2022 revenue totaled approximately $10
billion.
For more information, visit ICL's website at icl-group.com.
To access ICL's interactive CSR report, visit
icl-group-sustainability.com.
You can also learn more about ICL on Facebook, LinkedIn,
YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement contains statements that constitute
forward‑looking statements, many of which can be identified by the
use of forward‑looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,”
“could,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate” and
“potential,” among others.
Forward-looking statements appear in this press release and
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the company’s
intent, belief or current expectations. Forward-looking statements
are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on
information currently available to management. Such statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to:
estimates, forecasts and statements as to management's expectations
with respect to, among other things, business and financial
prospects, financial multiples and accretion estimates, future
trends, plans, strategies, positioning, objectives and
expectations, general economic, market and business conditions,
supply chain and logistics disruptions, energy storage and electric
vehicle growth, the potential for new COVID-19 variants, global
unrest and conflict, governmental and regulatory requirements and
actions by governmental authorities, including changes in
government policy, changes in environmental, tax and other laws or
regulations and the interpretation thereof. As a result of the
foregoing, readers should not place undue reliance on the
forward‐looking statements contained in this press release
concerning the timing of the transaction, or other more specific
risks and uncertainties facing ICL, such as those set forth in the
“Risk Factors” section of its Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on
February 23, 2022, as such risk factors may be updated from time to
time in its Current Reports on Form 6-K and other filings ICL makes
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to
time.
Forward-looking statements refer only to the date they are made,
and the company does not undertake any obligation to update them in
light of new information or future developments or to publicly
release any revisions to these statements in order to reflect later
events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231219253210/en/
Investor and Press Contact – Global Peggy Reilly Tharp
VP, Global Investor Relations +1-314-983-7665
Peggy.ReillyTharp@icl-group.com Investor and Press Contact -
Israel Adi Bajayo ICL Spokesperson +972-3-6844459
Adi.Bajayo@icl-group.com
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