belgium's umicore plans to ramp up ev battery recycling capacity: ceo - residential energy storage

LONDON (Reuters)-
Belgian materials technology group Umicore plans to increase recycling capacity in the next decade based on the rapid growth of electric vehicles (EV)
The group's chief executive said on Thursday that the market was in good shape.
The International Energy Agency expects that the number of electric vehicles on global roads will be about 40 times higher in 2030 than in 2017, resulting in a sharp increase in the number of recyclable used batteries.
"We are ready to make investment choices and decisions in the first part of the next decade, because we have to prepare larger industrial-scale recycling facilities like some time before and after the 2020 s, mark Greenberg said at a press briefing.
"Today, our waste battery capacity is about 7,000 tons. . .
This is equivalent to about 150,000 of recycling.
"200,0000 electric car battery," he said . ".
"If you make assumptions about the market for the next 10 years, know that there may be more than 2 million electric cars and plug-in cars this year.
In electric cars will be sold, then you have an idea of the desired magnification factor.
"June Berenberg analyst said they expected of Umicore will investment 0. 28 billion euro of recovery facilities about 2020/21 this May will to it
By 2025, electric vehicle battery recycling market share third.
Umicore said it did not comment on this forecast and it is too early to elaborate on the amount of any investment.
The so-called "Second Life" application will not have an impact on recycling needs, in which electric vehicle batteries are reused for tasks such as storing electricity for homes and offices, Grynberg said.
"We have always said that this will be a niche application for some residential energy storage because economics does not apply to utilities --
"The scale project for energy storage is not a scale project for grid regulation," he said . ".
Greenberg also said it plans to launch cash
Lithium and cobalt settlement contracts on the London Metal Exchange are "irrelevant" because most suppliers are not interested in participating.
LME plans to launch a series of contracts next year to meet the expected growth in demand for electric vehicles.
Although there is a final paper market, Greenberg said.
Users can use hedging positions to "simplify our lives" and the chances of contract success are limited.
"The producers are not interested, and I don't see anything that can make them change their minds," he said . ".