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One of the world’s largest makers of battery materials has warned of a rapid deterioration in demand as the once booming electric vehicle market slows.
Umicore, which makes materials used in cathodes, the most expensive part of an electric vehicle battery, on Wednesday pointed to the “sharp slowdown in the growth of demand for EVs”.
As a result, the Belgium-based company said: “2024 volumes for its battery materials could be equal or slightly lower than last year.”
The warning from Umicore, which competes with Germany’s BASF and a series of Chinese companies, is the latest evidence of how slowing EV sales growth is reverberating across the industry’s supply chain.
“Our short-term outlook in Battery Materials is clearly disappointing,” said chief executive Bart Sap, who was appointed in May. “We are adapting our pace to this new reality and are taking the necessary actions to navigate the immediate challenges.”
With demand weakening, Umicore said its battery materials business would only break even this year compared with an earlier forecast of a €135mn profit. The company counts Volkswagen and BMW as customers.
