Washington seals $475 million loan for battery recycler Li-Cycle ahead of Trump's arrival
Energy Dept funding key to Li-Cycle's US recycling plans
Biden officials had rushed to close ahead of Trump's return
Upstate NY plant would be one of the largest US sources of lithium
Loan includes principal and capitalized interest
Company now needs to secure private financing
By Ernest Scheyder
Nov 7 (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursdayfinalized a $475 million loan for Li-Cycle Holdings LICY.N, giving the metals recycler a financial lifeline to build a New York battery processing facility seen as key to outgoing President Joe Biden's vision for a domestic electric vehicle supply chain.
The long-awaited loan, which is $100 million higher than provisionally announced early last year, will keep the Glencore-backed GLEN.L company alive as it works to expand the recycling of batteries that are increasingly powering Americans'everyday lives, ranging from everyday electronics to EVs.
The loan for the plant, which would be one of the largest U.S. sources of the battery metal lithium,also cements a key part of Biden's climate agenda, ensuring the company receives governmentfinancial support regardless of any steps that President-elect Donald Trump may take when he assumes office in January.
Concerns that Trump could try toslow Washington's financial supportfor the renewable energy transition have spooked investors since his Tuesday victory. While Trump is not expected to be able to stop that transition, Biden officials are quickly moving to close loans and approve projects before January.
Li-Cycle had sought the loan for nearly three years, but cost overruns and technical issues forced it to hire a corporate restructuring expert last year, a step that sparked questions about its survival.
The company essentially found itself in a holding pattern while Washington reviewed the loan application, unable to advance its business plan even as it contended with rising inflation.
Its stock has dropped more than 75% in the past year.
The loan - which includes $445 million of principal and $30 million of capitalized interest - will allow the Toronto-based company to now solicit private capital to fund the remainder of its $960 million project, slated for Rochester near New York's border with Ontario.
Construction could take 12 to 15 months once full funding is secured.
"The loan demonstrates (the Energy Department's) role in supporting a strong domestic EV battery and critical materials supply chain, which is critical to strengthening America's national and energy security," said Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's Loan Program Office, which issued the financing.
Biden officials in recent weeks have pushed to advance several U.S. critical minerals projects before leaving office in January, including permitting ioneer's INR.AX Nevada lithium mine, issuing a loan to Lithium Americas LAC.TO, and expanding a manufacturing tax credit to miners.
"The big task from here is to get private financing and build this facility," said Ajay Kochhar, Li-Cycle's CEO. "We're positive that we're going to meet our end of the bargain, and we're positive that the U.S. government is going to do the same."
The loan will have a 15-year term and an interest rate matching the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate when funds are issued.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who will lose his role as Senate majority leader in January, had advocated for Li-Cycle to receive the funding.
The facility had been slated to open last year at a cost of roughly $485 million, but the Energy Department's rules for loan recipients to use union labor in part contributed to cost overruns and delays.
Li-Cycle has developed a network of facilities in Arizona, Alabama and Ontario that produce black mass, which is essentially shredded battery parts. The Rochester facility will break down that black mass into lithium and other metals, the only facility of its kind in North America.
Li-Cycle aims for the facility to produce 8,250 metric tons of lithium carbonate per year, as well as 72,000 metric tons of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), which is essentially a precursor product containing nickel and cobalt that can be used to make batteries.
Glencore,which has issued debt to Li-Cycle that can be converted into equity that would make it the company's largest shareholder, has agreed to buy all of the New York facility's MHP. That agreement, announced last week, helped secure the Energy Department loan, officials said.
The facility is expected to create 825 jobs during construction and 200 permanent jobs once open. Li-Cycle plans to release its second-quarter earnings on Thursday.
The Energy Department has provisionally agreed to lend $2 billionto Li-Cycle peer Redwood Materials, although that loan has not yet been finalized.
Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Veronica Brown and Marguerita Choy
متعلقہ اثاثے
تازہ ترين خبريں
دستبرداری: XM Group کے ادارے ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت تک صرف عملدرآمد کی خدمت اور رسائی مہیا کرتے ہیں، کسی شخص کو ویب سائٹ پر یا اس کے ذریعے دستیاب کانٹینٹ کو دیکھنے اور/یا استعمال کرنے کی اجازت دیتا ہے، اس پر تبدیل یا توسیع کا ارادہ نہیں ہے ، اور نہ ہی یہ تبدیل ہوتا ہے یا اس پر وسعت کریں۔ اس طرح کی رسائی اور استعمال ہمیشہ مشروط ہوتا ہے: (i) شرائط و ضوابط؛ (ii) خطرہ انتباہات؛ اور (iii) مکمل دستبرداری۔ لہذا اس طرح کے مواد کو عام معلومات سے زیادہ کے طور پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ خاص طور پر، براہ کرم آگاہ رہیں کہ ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت کے مندرجات نہ تو کوئی درخواست ہے، اور نہ ہی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں کوئی لین دین داخل کرنے کی پیش کش ہے۔ کسی بھی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں تجارت میں آپ کے سرمائے کے لئے ایک خاص سطح کا خطرہ ہوتا ہے۔
ہماری آن لائن تجارتی سہولت پر شائع ہونے والے تمام مٹیریل کا مقصد صرف تعلیمی/معلوماتی مقاصد کے لئے ہے، اور اس میں شامل نہیں ہے — اور نہ ہی اسے فنانشل، سرمایہ کاری ٹیکس یا تجارتی مشورے اور سفارشات؛ یا ہماری تجارتی قیمتوں کا ریکارڈ؛ یا کسی بھی فنانشل انسٹرومنٹ میں لین دین کی پیشکش؛ یا اسکے لئے مانگ؛ یا غیر متنازعہ مالی تشہیرات پر مشتمل سمجھا جانا چاہئے۔
کوئی تھرڈ پارٹی کانٹینٹ، نیز XM کے ذریعہ تیار کردہ کانٹینٹ، جیسے: راۓ، خبریں، تحقیق، تجزیہ، قیمتیں اور دیگر معلومات یا اس ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل تھرڈ پارٹی کے سائٹس کے لنکس کو "جیسے ہے" کی بنیاد پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے، عام مارکیٹ کی تفسیر کے طور پر، اور سرمایہ کاری کے مشورے کو تشکیل نہ دیں۔ اس حد تک کہ کسی بھی کانٹینٹ کو سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیقات کے طور پر سمجھا جاتا ہے، آپ کو نوٹ کرنا اور قبول کرنا ہوگا کہ یہ کانٹینٹ سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیق کی آزادی کو فروغ دینے کے لئے ڈیزائن کردہ قانونی تقاضوں کے مطابق نہیں ہے اور تیار نہیں کیا گیا ہے، اسی طرح، اس پر غور کیا جائے گا بطور متعلقہ قوانین اور ضوابط کے تحت مارکیٹنگ مواصلات۔ براہ کرم یقینی بنائیں کہ آپ غیر آزاد سرمایہ کاری سے متعلق ہماری اطلاع کو پڑھ اور سمجھ چکے ہیں۔ مذکورہ بالا معلومات کے بارے میں تحقیق اور رسک وارننگ ، جس تک رسائی یہاں حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔
