A slowdown in the electric-vehicle market has prompted top-level management changes at Belgium-based battery materials company Umicore, as well as launched an internal corporate review that could alter company scale-up plans, including those in Canada.
Former Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich resigned May 15 in “mutual agreement” with the company’s board. He was succeeded the following day by longtime executive Bart Sap, previously vice-president of Umicore’s catalysis business.
About six months earlier, Miedreich joined Canadian government officials to break ground on a $2.76-billion battery materials plant in Loyalist Township, just outside Kingston, Ont. The federal and provincial governments agreed to back the investment with just short of $1 billion in funding.
Umicore would not provide an update on the current state of construction in Loyalist on June 24, citing the ongoing review, but the company initially planned to begin commissioning the first phase of the plant in late 2025 and start production in early 2026.
In a conference call with analysts June 12, Sap said the company is looking at ways to cut costs in its battery materials business because of a slower-than-expected ramp up from EV customers. He said Umicore will limit global capital expenditures to 650 million euro (about Cdn$955 million) this year.
But with the corporate review in its “very early days,” he would not share details about which company plans may be scaled back.
“I’m working with the teams to clarify the overall volume development that we see with our customers, and footprint is one of the considerations we’re looking at, but it’s way too early to make any conclusion on this right now.”
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said it continues to work with Umicore on the investment.
“At this point, there is no information that suggests that the project in Loyalist Township is at risk,” said Hans Parmar, a spokesperson for ISED.
The Ontario ministry of economic development, job creation and trade did not directly respond to questions about the changes at Umicore.
And while the materials supplier has scaled back its short-term outlook for EVs, putting its immediate scale-up efforts in question, Sap said Umicor has a “strong belief in the long-term prospects of electrification.”
“The electro-mobility trajectory is and will not be linear, like in any other significant industry transformation.”
Early details about the company’s review are expected July 26.
