Raw material for electric cars: Germany's first lithium refinery is built in Saxony-Anhalt

Batteries logically play a very important role in the production of electric cars. Nevertheless, this part of the added value has so far been almost exclusively in Asia. However, this is slowly beginning to change. This is how Volkswagen started to build a production line for battery cells. The Chinese manufacturer CATL also wants to build a corresponding plant in Thuringia. The Dutch company AMG wants to position itself one step further in the production chain. For this purpose, a lithium refinery is to be built in Zeitz in Saxony-Anhalt. In the future, lithium hydroxide will be used there to manufacture an important raw material for the production of batteries for electric cars. In total, a double-digit million amount is to flow into the project in Saxony-Anhalt.

So far, the industry has been dependent on deliveries from China
Lithium hydroxide is needed to produce the cathodes of the batteries. To do this, however, it must be in a particularly pure form. Most of the offers available on the world market are not of this high quality. In fact, the battery manufacturers are therefore dependent on deliveries from China. That is also why AMG should expect high demand from industry. Because many customers are currently making great efforts to diversify their supply relationships. Another advantage of the location in Germany is that numerous car manufacturers and suppliers are based here. On the one hand, this shortens the transport routes, but on the other hand it also facilitates the transfer of knowledge. AMG has recently started operating a laboratory in Frankfurt that is exclusively concerned with the research of battery metals.

Lithium should also be mined in the Ore Mountains in the future
Germany's first lithium refinery is scheduled to start operating in two to three years. In theory, the entire production chain from raw material to finished battery could then be mapped in this country. Because work is underway in the Ore Mountains to put a lithium mine back into operation. Initially, however, AMG will purchase the required raw material - so-called technical lithium hydroxide - from Brazil. The group operates its own mine there. The company has yet to reveal how much particularly pure lithium hydroxide will be produced in Germany in the future. Ultimately, however, this should also depend on the market development and the associated demand. In any case, AMG emphasizes that it can quickly expand capacities if necessary.