The community of 14,000 people on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River has attracted at least a dozen companies focused on the EV battery industry since March. Germany’s BASF SE, the world’s largest chemical maker, secured industrial land on Becancour’s outskirts for a battery materials and recycling site. Brazilian mining giant Vale SA is looking to build a nickel sulfate plant in this area. General Motors Co. has already agreed to be a customer.
Ford Motor Co. is in talks with Korean battery firms to construct a $700 million cathode factory here, while GM is partnering with South Korea’s Posco Chemical Co. Ltd. to erect a $400 million plant to produce materials for the US automaker’s EV battery platform, starting in 2025.
“Becancour really stood out as being extremely attractive, it’s kind of perfectly nestled between Canadian mineral sources and our factories,” said David Paterson, a vice president at GM…
