The royal holding company Al Mada, through one of its directors Zineb Zeryouhi, recently took stock of the joint project carried out with the Chinese CNGR, and consisting of an industrial unit intended for the manufacture of battery components for electric vehicles, of which we first revealed its existence in March 2023.
Zeryouhi’s presentation was made during a forum organized on May 15 by the Federation of Chemistry and Parachemistry and the Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development (AMDIE).
As a reminder, the project will include units for the manufacturing of LFP and NMC components, but also for the recycling of black mass. The CNGR-Al Mada duo will act upstream of the gigafactory sector and will constitute an essential element of the ecosystem that Morocco wishes to develop.
At Jorf Lasfar, it therefore joins the OCP group program providing for a chemistry specialty in this area. In addition to Al Mada-CNGR, we also find in Jorf Lasfar the Chinese Tinci who is preparing his factory.
In front of specialists and media who relayed the presentation, Zineb Zeryouhi returned to the information already distilled by Al Mada’s partners, CNGR, and also confirmed the name of the industrial complex called Cobco for (Core Battery Components). It will be housed on an area of 200 hectares at the location, which we identified in July 2023.
NMC precursors from 2025
The launch of Cobco’s construction work took place on April 19, 2024 during a ceremony organized on the Jorf Lasfar site with the unveiling of the identity of the factory born from the CNGR New Tech Morocco joint venture, including the general staff was set up upstream as detailed by The Desk.
Launch of Cobco works in Jorf Lasfar on April 19, 2024. Credit: DR
With no less than 20 billion dirhams of investment, this will involve producing 120 Kt of NMC precursors from 2025, 60 Kt of LFP components and a recycling unit aimed at producing 30 Kt of Black Mass. Cobco aims to produce battery materials for more than 1 million electric vehicles per year
Regarding the targeted market, the head of Al Mada stressed that it will be a question of targeting, with a 25% market share, Europe and the United States with 95% of its production intended for export with the aim of serving customers such as the American automobile manufacturer Tesla and the South Korean LG Chem which joined forces with the Chinese Huayou to establish two industrial units in Morocco.
