Latest News

Morocco expects more EV battery investments, minister states

The Moroccan government remains in speak to bring in more electric battery manufacturers as it seeks to adjust its growing automotive sector to an increasing demand for electric lorries, market and trade minister Ryad Mezzour said.

The automobile sector tops Morocco's commercial exports at $ 14 billion in 2023, up 27%.

Morocco is home to production plants by Stellantis and Renault with an annual integrated production capability of 700,000 automobiles along with a cluster of local suppliers.

Last week, the Moroccan government okayed for Chinese electrical battery maker BTR New Product Group to construct a factory near Tangier to produce key element cathodes.

This is the very first memorandum of understanding that we transformed into an investment agreement, Mezzour stated in an interview with .

Another Chinese manufacturer, CNGR Advanced Material , is anticipated to construct a cathode plant in Jorf Lasfar, 100 kilometres south of Casablanca, where the government has actually assigned 283 hectares to electric battery markets.

BTR and CNGR or other plants will be able to supply gigafactories in Morocco and abroad, he stated.

In 2015, the Moroccan government and China's Gotion agreed to check out setting up an electric car battery plant in the kingdom with up to $6.3 billion in eventual financial investment.

Gotion job is advancing with discussions on the footprint and place, Mezzour stated.

This will be a prospective gigafactory, he said, referring to large-scale battery production plants.

Negotiations are likewise ongoing with 5 other makers to establish comparable plants, he said without providing further details.

While purchasing batteries is among the paths to prepare the automobile sector for electric movement requirements, the minister said that the next steps would be the automobile platform and the electro-motor.

By 2030, electric vehicles made in Morocco are planned to represent up to 60% of its exported cars and trucks, ahead of the EU's 2035 fossil-fuel vehicle restriction, he said.

Stellantis has a production capacity of 50,000 supermini electrical vehicles in its Kenitra plant.

Renault plans to start producing a hybrid version of the Dacia Jogger seven-seater in the Tangier factory in the second half this year at a capacity of 120,000 automobiles each year.

We are changing progressively our worth chain and increasing it to be fit to deliver all our markets with a really competitive and integrated value chain, Mezzour said.

(source: Reuters)