Battery materials face a rocky path ahead

Battery materials producers across the globe are hitting the brakes on expansion plans. Umicore, LG Chem, and other firms say that subdued demand for electric vehicles and uncertainty about policies supporting the battery industry are forcing them to pull back. Umicore executives recently told investors that the company is halving the amount of money it will spend on battery materials projects between 2025 and 2028. CEO Bart Sap said the firm will invest only the minimum amount needed to finish existing projects and meet the commitments it has already made to customers. “We have invested for years heavily in this business, and we did not produce the returns,” Sap said during a March investor meeting. “So now our job is, with the assets we have, how can we . . . recover as much as possible?” The cuts are the result of a r eview process that Umicore started in