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☆ Chinese battery giant CATL posts 63% growth in Q2 profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - Chinese battery giant CATL (300750.SZ) on Tuesday recorded a 63.22% rise in net profit for the second quarter, as the company scrambled to maintain its industry leadership amid intensifying competition in the electric vehicle (EV) battery market. This compared to a 558% surge in its net profit in the first quarter. China's battery makers including CATL are facing challenges of weakening demand and bigger cost reduction pressure from EV makers amid a price war and a slowdown in auto sales this year. The EV battery market grew at a much slower pace this year with a 36.8% increase in battery installation volume in the first half compared with the 176.4% growth in the same period in 2022, data from China Automotive and Battery Alliance showed. ($1 = 7.1379 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Sam Holmes, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tesla, Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan, Brenda Goh, Sam Holmes, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: EV, China Automotive, Battery Alliance, Chongqing Changan Automobile, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Chongqing

☆ South Korea to offer $5.3 bln in financing to support battery investment in North America
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Heekyong Yang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, April 7 (Reuters) - South Korea on Friday said it will provide 7 trillion won ($5.32 billion) in financial support for its battery makers seeking to invest in infrastructure in North America over the next five years to help firms cope with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. "Both the government and businessmen should cooperate to find solutions together to effectively cope with situations changing rapidly after the Inflation Reduction Act," Trade Minister Lee Chang-yang said while presiding over a meeting with major battery cell makers and materials firms. In November, South Korea launched the government-backed battery alliance to better source key metals dominated by China to bolster battery supply chain stability. In March, LGES said it would resume a stalled U.S. battery project with a $5.6 billion investment in Arizona to qualify for federal incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. ($1 = 1,316.2200 won)Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Volkswagen pauses on Europe battery plants, awaits EU response to IRA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jan Schwartz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"De facto it is the case that we are getting ahead far faster in North America," a person close to the matter said to Reuters, declining to be named. Asked about the report, a Volkswagen spokesperson said the carmaker was "still evaluating suitable locations for our next cell factories in Eastern Europe and North America. The company said in October last year it planned to firmly settle on a location for a plant in eastern Europe in the first six months of 2023. Schmall said he participated in a discussion with EU officials via the European Battery Alliance last week on what conditions were needed in Europe for battery production. These included state aid in line with China and North America, a raw materials strategy and affordable renewable energy, he said.

☆ Germany's Bosch to increase stake in Sweden's Husqvarna to 12%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Shares in Husqvarna, a garden equipment company, were up 12.6% by 0839 GMT following the announcement of the deal. The garden equipment company makes outdoor power products, consumer watering products, cutting equipment and diamond tools for construction and stone industries. Bosch's power tools division set up a "Power for All Alliance" together with Husqvarna subsidiary Gardena in 2020. The 10-brand alliance features products relating to all home-based activities for the European market, Bosch said. The German company has so far bought less than 5% of Husqvarna shares and has an agreement for around 7% more, a Bosch spokesperson said.

☆ Carmakers fighting for battery supply need ways to track EV ingredients. A new kind of 'passport' could be the answer.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A "battery passport" that traces everything from a battery's mining to recycling could help. Experts say using the battery passport could separate auto-industry winners from losers. That challenge could be alleviated by the "battery passport," a new way of documenting where all the bits of a battery come from and where they're going. In Europe, newer regulations have increased scrutiny of battery sustainability and safety. The battery passport could make it easier to get through them.

It wants 3.8 billion pounds ($4.4 billion) to build a gigafactory in northern England but its plans are hanging by a thread as it struggles to lure enough investment. French battery startup Verkor, for example, announced on Wednesday that it had raised 250 million euros ($249 million) to fund a megafactory. The European Battery Alliance (EBA) acknowledges Asian firms, and Chinese companies in particular, are likely to increase their market share in the coming years, helped by their track record and offtake agreements. "Even if we have the production in Europe, it doesn't mean we have the know-how or the control," she said. The EU has approved 6.1 billion euros since 2019 in funding by member states for battery research and innovation while Britain has a 1 billion pound fund to support investments in EV supply chains.

☆ Germany's Solar Valley could shine again as Europe strives to close energy gap
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Riham Alkousaa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It is also reacting to a new U.S. law that has raised concern the remains of Germany's formerly-dominant solar industry could relocate to the United States. China's production is also around 10%-20% cheaper that in Europe, separate data from European Solar Manufacturing Council ESMC shows. Dries Acke, the Policy Director at industry body SolarPower Europe, said the body had written to the European Commission urging action. Berlin-based residential solar energy supplier Zolar said orders have risen by 500% year-on-year since the Ukraine war began in February, but clients might have to wait for six-to-nine months to get a solar system installed. "The signs for the solar industry in Germany are much, much better now," he said.

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