Business Facilities magazine recently announced the winners of their 2023 Deals of the Year awards. Of the twenty-four winners, only two were from South Carolina. The Scout Motors project in Richland County was named the Silver Deal of the Year, while Chester County was selected as one of the Deal of the Year Impact Award for EV Supplier/Chemical Processing for the Albemarle Corporation project.

In March 2023 Albemarle Corporation announced their plans to invest $1.3 billion in capital investment and create 307 jobs to build a new lithium hydroxide processing plant. All major automotive companies have announced their intention to phase out the internal combustion engine and shift to electric vehicles (EV). This has led to massive investment in EV assembly plants and the EV supply chain both nationally and in South Carolina. Lithium hydroxide is a base ingredient for lithium-ion batteries. Completion of phase 1 of their Richburg plant is targeted for 2026 and expected to produce 50,000 metric tons of battery grade lithium hydroxide a year.

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