The Brussels-based chemical company refines and repurposes battery metals and makes auto catalysts. It aims to supply materials for nearly 20 per cent of North American EV production, or one million EV batteries annually, from the plant by the end of the decade. (The Logic)

Talking point: The plant will make cathode active materials (CAM) and precursor CAM. The latter has been identified by experts as a remaining gap in North America’s battery supply chain. The Canadian venture is hoping to address that when it starts production in 2025 in Loyalist Township, near Kingston, Ont., where it will employ about 1,000 workers during construction and several hundred thereafter. Umicore CEO Mathias Miedreich said the federal and Ontario governments expressed “support” and “readiness to co-fund” the project, but did not specify an amount in its initial announcement. In May, Miedreich registered as a lobbyist focused on the federal Strategic Innovation Fund.