Umicore acquires Kokkola cobalt refinery from Freeport-McMoRan

Belgium's Umicore has acquired the Kokkola cobalt refinery in Finland from US copper miner Freeport-McMoRan for a reported $150-million (€134-million).

The purchase marks an important step in Umicore's expansion of its battery materials supply chain. With research and development, refining, production, and recycling operations all based in the EU, Umicore will be well placed to serve the continent with a fully integrated sustainable and local battery materials supply chain. The move is in line with the current European Commission's calls for a European Strategic Battery Value Chain.

The Kokkola refinery is the largest cobalt refinery in Europe. The facility itself is state-of-the-art and the 250 employees are well regarded within the battery industry. The operations at the Finnish refinery will supply precursor materials for the cathode production in Nysa, Poland, which is due to begin towards the end of 2020.

Umicore already has long-term agreements in place for the supply of raw cobalt materials to the Kokkola refinery in line with the company's sustainable procurement framework.

Marc Grynberg, CEO of Umicore commented: “This acquisition underlines our commitment to support the rapid growth of our battery materials customers in Europe and supply them with locally produced materials of the highest quality with a certified and clean origin. I am proud of Umicore’s contribution to the accelerating transition to cleaner mobility in Europe and the rest of the world.”

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