ST. LOUIS – St. Louis will be at the forefront of a $2.8 billion expansion of domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the nation’s electrical grid. Contact online >>
ST. LOUIS – St. Louis will be at the forefront of a $2.8 billion expansion of domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the nation’s electrical grid.
ICL, formerly Israel Chemicals Ltd., will build the first lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode plant in the United States in the Carondelet neighborhood. The company is investing more than $232 million, with an additional $197 million coming from the U.S. Department of Energy, via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The 120,000-square-foot St. Louis plant will be located along the River Des Peres at Germania Avenue and Primm Street, and will have two production lines (built in two phases) under a single roof. Each production line will be capable of producing 15,000 metric tons of LFP powedered material per year. Phase I will be completed by 2024, with full both lines being fully active by 2025.
ICL already has a footprint in Carondelet and elsewhere in the St. Louis area. The company operates a 10,000-square-foot alternative-protein facility that produces plant-based meat substitutes. The company also has a research hub in Webster Groves, and Creve Coeur is home to its North American headquarters.
The global specialty minerals company ICL is set to build a more than half-billion dollar manufacturing facility for a key component in lithium batteries in the city''s North Riverfront neighborhood.
The Israeli company had previously announced that it broke ground last year on a $400 million facility in the Carondelet neighborhood in south St. Louis, but the company learned that site would not be ideal for the project, said Phil Brown, president of food and phosphate specialties for ICL, during the board''s meeting.
"From a space perspective and also the geotechnical characteristics of the underlying land as well was not very suitable to a large industrial development there," he said.
ICL launched a process to consider other areas that could house the new manufacturing facility but eventually chose to remain local, opting to build at 460 E. Carrie Ave., Brown explained.
"St. Louis is a great location for us with the center of gravity we have here with our headquarters and our R&D facilities as well," he said. "Looking forward to adding a fourth location in north St. Louis to that footprint as well."
Brown added the company isn''t abandoning its site in Carondelet either as it will still house a pilot plant and innovation center. The company is close to finishing construction of a $30 million investment there, he said.
The new facility will produce tens of thousands of metric tons of lithium iron phosphate, a scale of manufacturing that isn''t happening anywhere except China at the moment, Brown said.
"[This is] a great opportunity for the U.S., Missouri and for St. Louis to be at the forefront of all that," he said. "This will be the first commercial manufacturing plant for this material predominantly outside of China."
The project is also being partially funded by the Department of Energy under the bipartisan infrastructure law and aims to produce materials from entirely domestic sources, Brown said.
ICL''s $574 million facility adds to other investments in the area like the $180 million expansion, also in North Riverfront, that Proctor & Gamble committed to in September.
"We are starting to see a renaissance of our advanced manufacturing industries in north St. Louis city that will drive growth across the entire region," said Neal Richardson, chairman and CEO of the St. Louis Development Corporation. "It''s a testament that the strategy and plan is working with the investment that we''re making into workforce development, creating jobs in the city."
"It''s checked so many boxes, not only for investing in our city, which is important, but improving our country''s competitive position and value chain," said board member Lori Koenig.
ICL''s new facility will add 153 high-paying, full-time jobs, including about 100 manufacturing jobs paying more than $40 an hour as well as supporting positions including HR professionals, accountants and R&D scientists, Brown said. ICL already employs roughly 335 people in St. Louis at an average salary of $113,000 a year, he added.
Tuesday''s announced development from ICL and P&G''s from a few months ago were both the result of global searches in which St. Louis rose to the top, Richardson said. He added this reflects St. Louis'' historic advantages with connections to rail, interstates and river transit, as well as recent investments the city has made into workforce development, environmental remediation and developing the advanced manufacturing sector locally.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the proposal sought an issue of taxable industrial revenue bonds. The story has been updated to reflect that it sought real and personal property tax abatements.
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