Morocco: United Arab Emirates, China to Build Innovative Factory
A new plant with high technological potential will produce graphite needed for the electric vehicle industry
On the day of Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang’s visit to the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi-based Falcon Energy Materials Plc. and Chinese mining giant Hensen Graphite & Carbon Corporation, based in Quingdao, in East China, announced that they have entered into a “global strategic partnership” to build an innovative technology plant in Morocco, North Africa, which “will produce coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG), as well as anodes for electric batteries.”
Graphite is the key mineral in today’s lithium-ion batteries for gadgets and electric vehicles: in a battery, graphite has the greatest impact by weight – 45% or more – so much so that today’s “plug-in” mid-sized electric vehicles can hold up to 70 kilograms.
Hensen Graphite & Carbon Corporation has 4 graphite plants in China, but after the Chinese government restricted exports of this strategic material in 2023, manufacturers are looking for alternative sites to meet growing demands, especially of the European electric vehicle industry.
According to the strategic partnership agreement between Falcon and Hensen, the collaboration between the UAE, China, and Morocco “will focus on developing a process map to produce the highest quality CSPG to ensure 100% end-user satisfaction,” while adhering to the “transparency and sustainability standards of two of the industry’s leading companies.”
To get the new plant up and running as soon as possible – at full capacity, production will be 25,000 tons of CSPG per year – the Emirati and Chinese companies will work with two partners, Morocco’s Tanger Med Engineering S.A. (TME) and German mining and metals consulting firm Anzaplan GmbH, part of the Dorfner Group.
The two partners will conduct a preliminary economic assessment in accordance with Morocco’s National Instrument 43-101. The move will “support the financing and construction of the CSPG and anode plant to facilitate consultation with potential funding partners and local authorities.” Under the agreement, Emirates-based Falcon will retain control and financing of the Moroccan plant, while China’s Hensen will provide technical and technological support for its development and subsequent operation.