By Kate Yuan

(JW Insights) Sep 26 -- China’s major battery materials provider Huayou Cobalt (华友钴业) has established a strategic cooperation relationship with South Korea's LG Chem to build battery material plants in Indonesia and Morocco, the company announced on September 25.

They agreed to set up a joint venture in Indonesia to build two facilities there, including a precursor plant with an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons, and a plant to extract mixed hydroxide from nickel ore for precursor production with an annual production of 60,000 tons of nickel metal.

In addition, Huayou and LG Chem will also establish a JV in Morocco to develop a plant for lithium salt processing with an annual production capacity of 52,000 tons, according to the announcement.

Founded in 2002 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015, Huayou Cobalt is mainly engaged in the R&D and manufacturing of EV lithium batteries and new cobalt materials. It is headquartered in the Tongxiang of eastern China’s Zhejiang Province.

LG Chem stated in a statement that the Moroccan plant is scheduled to start production in 2026. The battery materials produced at that plant will be supplied to the North American market. Furthermore, since Morocco is a free trade partner of the US, there is a possibility of receiving subsidies under the United States Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).