Northvolt to Pause Some Production, Cut Staff
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Swedish battery maker Northvolt AB is pausing part of the production at its flagship factory and cutting the workforce to cope with operational difficulties and a drop in demand for electric vehicles.
The company is also looking for partners for facilities in Poland and has sold a Swedish site it had previously planned for making cathode material, a precursor to making batteries, it said Sept. 9 in a statement. Northvolt didn’t specify the size of workforce reductions.
“We are having to take some tough actions for the purpose of securing the foundations of Northvolt’s operations to improve our financial stability and strengthen our operational performance,” CEO Peter Carlsson said.
The company is pausing operations at its Northvolt Ett Upstream 1 cathode material production facility until further notice, according to the statement.
Carlsson
Northvolt, the continent’s biggest homegrown battery manufacturer, has struggled to ramp up production at its main factory outside the town of Skelleftea near the Arctic Circle. It already shelved plans for an initial public offering to next year because of a challenging market and the operational problems.
The market for battery makers continues to worsen amid a slump in EV sales. Companies including Volkswagen, Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz have had to scale back or refocus battery projects this year.
Northvolt said it remains committed to its facilities NOVO in Sweden, Northvolt Drei in Germany and Northvolt Six in Canada and is in close dialogue with the key stakeholders.
Potential revisions to those projects’ timelines will be confirmed during the fall, along with any further cost-saving actions, the company said.
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