Ontario Minister confident Umicore will resume Loyalist plant construction

Vic Fedeli believes the 700 promised jobs will come

Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Vic Fedeli, expressed confidence that Umicore will soon resume construction at their battery-materials plant in Loyalist. The Belgium-based company paused spending on the facility last month to reassess their battery materials strategy.

Umicore’s CEO, Bart Sap, cited a slowdown in electric vehicle market growth as the reason for the delay, impacting their Battery Materials business. Despite this, Fedeli believes the three battery plants in Ontario will still need the materials produced at the Loyalist plant.

The Bath facility, announced in July 2022, was set to manufacture materials for electric vehicle batteries, supporting production for roughly 800,000 vehicles annually. The plant was expected to create 700 permanent jobs.

While a timeline for the review’s completion has not been provided, Fedeli remains optimistic that Umicore will continue with the project once their reassessment is finalized.