CNGR Advanced Material Co., a Chinese maker of battery components, is joining forces with African private investment fund Al Mada to build an industrial base in Morocco, according to a Bloomberg report.
Construction at the site in Jorf Lasfar will start this year, with first output of battery materials targeted for 2025, the partners said in a joint statement. Total investment is seen at more than 20 billion Moroccan dirhams ($2 billion).
Phosphate-rich Morocco is key to making the lithium ferrophosphate, or LFP, cells that are increasingly used in electric vehicles. The country is also positioned on the doorstep of Europe, a growing EV market, while benefiting from free-flowing trade with the US.
The venture plans to develop “precursors active materials” for nickel-cobalt-manganese, or NCM, batteries, as well as production units for LFP cathodes and recycling facilities for battery materials.
The venture’s output, sufficient to equip more than 1 million EVs a year, will mainly be exported, according to the statement. The partners are in talks with state-owned OCP Group to secure the phosphates they need.