On April 29 2025, one of China’s leading cathode active material (CAM) companies—Easpring Technology, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its CAM joint venture in Finland, marking the official commencement of the project’s construction.

Located in Kotka, the JV is established by Beijing Easpring Material Technology (70%) and Finnish Minerals Group (30%). The JV was announced in July 2023 with an initial investment of €774M (US$880M) and in April 2024, Easpring (Finland) New Materials. was officially established. The project is designed to achieve an annual production capacity of 200ktpy of NCM and 300ktpy of LFP/LMFP, with the initial phase targeting an NCM capacity of 60ktpy.

Surpassing key milestones are an upside for European midstream production

In December 2024, the project received an environmental approval from the Finnish government, followed by the acquisition of the first construction permits in February 2025, clearing all pre-construction obstacles. The groundbreaking ceremony on April 29 signifies the formal start of construction, with production scheduled to commence in 2027. Upon its official operation, the facility will become Finland’s first battery materials plant, strengthening Europe’s local battery materials supply pipeline.

Project blue understands the key provisions of the project to be as follows:

The Impact on Easpring and Europe:

Enhancing overseas competitiveness. As Easpring Technology’s first overseas plant, this project aims to meet the localised supply and production capacity needs of its international clients while expanding its global market share.

Order-driven, revenue-boosting. In March 2025, Easpring signed long-term supply agreements with SK On and LG Energy Solution (LGES), committing to provide nearly 130kt of high-nickel and mid-nickel cathode materials to these two battery manufacturers over the next two–three years. Once operational, the Finland plant may supply materials to SK On’s Hungary facility and LGES’s Poland facility, reducing transportation costs.

Alleviating LFP supply shortages. Europe currently lacks localised LFP cathode material production. If the project’s planned LFP capacity is realised, it will alleviate Europe’s reliance on imported LFP materials.

The Raw Material Supply

CAM production relies on two primary raw materials: precursors (pCAM) and lithium salts.

Competitive pCAM sources. Chinese manufacturers dominate nearly 80% of the global ternary precursor market, while Europe has no local precursor supply capacity. CNGR is highly likely to become the plant’s main precursor supplier. In February, CNGR and Easpring signed a strategic cooperation agreement, which includes precursor supply. Although CNGR announced in April this year that it would withdraw from building its own Finland-based precursor plant, due to domestic overcapacity, its Moroccan precursor plant, which began production in January this year, could  fulfil the raw material needs of Easpring’s Finland facility. 

Flexible lithium salt sources. Europe has limited local supply capabilities for lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Beyond importing lithium salts from China, the project may explore potential suppliers in Africa, such as Prospect Lithium (under Huayou Cobalt) and other Chinese mining and lithium salt companies, to optimize logistics efficiency.

The construction of Easpring’s Finland plant therefore brings multiple benefits to Europe’s local lithium battery industry. For Easpring Technology, it also mitigates geopolitical risks such as tariffs.

What are the risks threatening project development in Europe?

The commissioning and subsequent operation of midstream projects in Europe still face risks that increase the uncertainty for regional supply security. Sufficient energy supply, high labour and energy costs, instability in raw material supply chains, and fluctuations in the European EV market all impact future development.

CAM producers located in Europe will also see strong competition from an oversupplied market in China. With US tariffs increasing barriers to entry to the US market, China will look to offload excess material to Europe, which is forecast to see a CAM-deficit over the next ten years. Much of this material from China will be high-spec and low-cost from sources of ample supply. European CAM projects therefore must be competitive over the short- through to long term to ensure the resilience of the domestic industry.

How can project resilience be achieved in Europe?

As margins in the midstream are notoriously tight, production costs will be a critical determining factor for project success. Energy and labour prices are relatively fixed for a given European country and, as such, many projects must turn to process optimisation and raw material sourcing for cost management.

Yield losses and poor process efficiency can weigh significantly on the economics of a project. As has been seen in the sector over the past years, difficulty in scaling up can result in their demise. Uneconomical projects are quickly placed in the spotlight, and when such projects rely so heavily on private and government funding, investor pressure soon mounts and further funding stalls.

Sourcing the relevant raw materials at a favourable price can hinge on secure customer relationships and reliable order sizes. As the majority of these raw materials will be sourced from China, collaboration overseas will be non-negotiable and positive relationships will be critical.

European resilience can be built not only by the producer, but also by the European Commission and local governments. Strong, targeted policy frameworks that support growth will be needed to facilitate the industry and any unnecessary restrictions will hinder development. More efficient permitting procedures will be needed to reduce delays to project timelines, whilst tariffs and import restrictions would further increase costs. For the wider European picture, technology transfer from China to Europe will also be critical for the region’s resilience in the years to come. Ensuring this should therefore be paramount from Europe’s perspective, otherwise it risks slipping further from control over its own battery supply chain.

It is evident that Chinese involvement in battery projects in Europe has a positive impact on project success, which is why so many OEMs form various partnerships across the supply chain. The regional strategy appears to have shifted somewhat in recent times, from looking to decouple from China and build a domestic supply chain independently, towards looking to collaborate with China to ensure domestic supply security. This is a positive shift for the region, but only if technology transfer is facilitated, and perhaps imposed, through robust policy and regulation.