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Northvolt to axe 1,600 jobs as Europe's EV hopes stall

Northvolt plans to cut 1,600 jobs at its base in Sweden, or about a fifth of its international labor force, as Europe's biggest hope in the electrical lorry battery market battles with slow demand and competition from China.

The leader in efforts to construct a European automobile battery market stated on Monday it would suspend prepare for a big expansion of its Northvolt Ett factory in Skelleftea, northern Sweden.

The business had actually stated previously this month it would stop producing cathode active product (CAM), a vital battery element, going back from its initial objective to be an all-in-one store offering everything from material production and battery making to end-of-life recycling.

With Volkswagen amongst its owners, Northvolt has actually led a wave of European startups investing tens of billions of dollars in battery production to serve the continent's automakers as they switch from internal combustion engines to EVs.

However development in EV need is moving at a slower rate than some in the market had forecasted, and competitors stays stiff from China, which manages 85% of global battery cell production, International Energy Firm information programs.

Northvolt has likewise had problem with order hold-ups. Problems ramping up production led BMW to pull a $2 billion order in June.

Northvolt stated on Monday it would focus on increase the initially 16 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of yearly battery cell production capacity at Northvolt Ett, while shelving a building task that had actually focused on increasing its capacity by another 30 GWh.

Presently, the company is producing less than 1 GWh.

We are determined to overcome the challenges we face, and to emerge stronger and leaner, co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson said in a statement. We now require to focus all energy and investments into our core business.

EUROPEAN SUCCESS

Evan Hartley, an expert at Standard Mineral Intelligence, stated scaling back the business's targets made good sense.

Their level of aspiration and their level of realism at the minute is fairly good in that they're not pushing blindly ahead when it's not working, he stated.

Northvolt is still loss-making regardless of protecting orders worth over $50 billion from consumers including Volkswagen, underscoring Europe's battle to take on the dominance of Chinese battery makers such as CATL and BYD.

In a long-awaited report, previous European Central Bank head Mario Draghi alerted this month that Europe needed a much more collaborated commercial policy and enormous financial investment to keep rate financially with the United States and China.

But lots of European federal governments are financially extended following the COVID pandemic and facing anaemic growth.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated on Sept. 13 that while he wanted business engaged in green innovations to thrive, the federal government would not take a stake in Northvolt. The federal government has likewise said it will not lend to the company.

Carlsson stated all interested celebrations should deal with the business.

I believe it's important going forward that all the stakeholders we deal with now - clients, investors, lenders, and also national stakeholders - are adding to a. good long-lasting option, because this is about European. success and competitiveness, he told Swedish radio.

(source: Reuters)