The Belgian chemical giant said it has decided to supply its North American customers through its South Korean plant, and is keeping construction in Ontario on hiatus after a cost-cutting review. The firm said it will keep “a solid core team on site” in Canada and will only draw on its subsidies granted by the Canadian government if it decides to resume full-scale operations here. (The Logic)

Talking point: The decision comes amid uncertainty about whether North America’s transition to electric vehicles will slow under U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to roll back green manufacturing incentives and levy blanket tariff increases. Umicore, which was planning to sell Canadian battery materials to BMW, announced in July it would delay construction in Canada as part of a sweeping and “painful” cost-cutting plan triggered by slower-than-expected EV sales. Now, the company has extended the downtime in Canada and is also cutting jobs in China.