November 11, 2024: Metals recycler and battery materials producer, Umicore, announced this week it has paused construction of a battery plant in Ontario as the company rethinks its plans. The decision, it said, was part of a broader response to slowing demand for electric vehicles.

The Belgian-based group had only broken ground for the facility near Kingston, Ontario last year. It was expected to support 600 new jobs and provide battery materials for as many as 800,000 electric vehicles annually after starting operations in 2026.

“Umicore is navigating a challenging environment where we feel the impact of the complex transitioning of the automotive industry towards electric mobility. Serving our North American customers out of Korea is now clearly the most effective use of our assets,” CEO Bart Sap said on November 6.

Umicore launched a review of its business earlier this year saying then it had postponed “large scale” investments in an unspecified battery recycling plant in Europe, as well as the one in, Canada.

Sap said factors that had driven Umicore’s decision were: the need to scale back its battery materials business; several of the company’s legacy contracts were ending faster than anticipated; and a ramp-up of new contracts in Europe was delayed, as has anticipated production for a battery manufacturing operation in China.

The company also gave detail on the cost-cutting measures it announced in July, saying they would contribute €40 million ($43 million) of savings in 2025. They would also affect around 260 positions, 100 of which were in Belgium. The company has 12,000 employees in all.

Umicore said it had begun consultations with trade unions, and intended to resize the workforce of its battery materials division predominantly in its Jiangmen, China production plant, while also cutting R&D activities in Hørsholm Denmark.