The soon-to-be chief executive of what will become the world’s third-biggest lithium producer says the new company will focus on building a supply chain in the Americas, as US automakers look for non-Chinese sources of the battery metal.
“America-centric is a big differentiator for us with customers, with investors,” Paul Graves said in an interview Thursday, a day after it was announced Livent will combine with Allkem to create a $10.6-billion company. China, where US-based Livent has refineries, “will not be a focus of growth for us in the future,” he said.
Forget the lithium price roller-coaster. The union of the Australian giant and US group Livent is all about the push by governments to protect their slice of the energy transition windfall.