Confirmed. The Chinese group Tinci Materials is relocating its Bohumin factory from the Czech Republic to Morocco, where it hopes to find a better political climate and economic stability. The future factory, which is the second announced in Casablanca in the space of three months by the same company, will process “100,000 tonnes of electrolytes and lithium hexafluorophosphate”.
These materials will be destined for the European electric vehicle market. The fact that Tinci intends to invest up to 280 million dollars (2.7 billion Moroccan dirhams) is partly due to the natural resources of the Cherifian kingdom, whose potential is no longer a secret, particularly in terms of cobalt and lithium. These raw materials are prized for decarbonisation on a global scale because of their high energy storage capacity.
This is another reason why Gotion High-Tech has been attracted to Morocco. Tinci’s compatriot has just begun construction of a factory to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles near the capital Rabat. The work, which will cost 65 billion dirhams (€5.9 billion), has been given the go-ahead by the Moroccan government, with the creation of 25,000 jobs.
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All these projects, led by foreign companies, are fully in line with Morocco’s new Investment Charter. The latter earmarks 71% of funding (€2 billion) for the development of electric mobility over the coming years. This should help reduce the CO2 emissions that cause air pollution, particularly in the industrial cities of Marrakech and Tangiers.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi