China's CALB says European battery makers could source 70% of inputs locally by 2026


Thu, September 7, 2023 
By Zhang Yan

MUNICH, Sept 7 (Reuters) - European battery makers may be able to source at least 70% of the key materials they need locally by 2026, a senior manager at Chinese battery maker CALB Group said, as suppliers ramp up investments in the region.

CALB has been localising its supply chains by offering technical support to local firms and encouraging Chinese suppliers to set up plants in Europe, Wu Tao, general manager of CALB's marketing division, told Reuters.

"We do feel it's necessary to localise supplies of materials as much as possible," Wu said in an interview on the sidelines of the Munich auto show IAA Mobility.

"As a new energy company, it makes no sense for us to ship them with vessels burning diesel all the way from China."

However, around 5% to 10% of the materials would still need to be imported from China due to high costs and a lack of technological capabilities locally, he added.

Wu's comments came as Chinese battery makers seek growth in Europe to supply to European automakers, as demand at home is slowing. CALB is currently building a plant in Portugal with a planned capacity of 15 gigawatt hours annually.

Its biggest competitor CATL has been producing battery cells and modules in a plant in Germany, and is building another site in Hungary.

Authorities in Europe have also been urging the development of local supply chains with low-carbon and sustainability requirements to speed up adoption of electric vehicles in the region.

At the World New Energy Vehicle Congress (WNEVC) in Munich, China's EV industry leaders including policy adviser and 'father of EVs' Wan Gan, the heads of carmakers BYD and Nio and battery maker CATL called for stronger global cooperation and policy standardisation to scale up EV adoption.

Founded in 2015, CALB, which supplies automakers including Xpeng and Nio, was the third largest battery maker after CATL and BYD in terms of sales in the first seven months of 2023. (Reporting by Zhang Yan in Munich; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Jan Harvey)