Livent Corp says it has completed the expansion of its North Carolina lithium hydroxide production facility, Kallanish reports.

The plant in Bessemer City in western North Carolina is the largest lithium hydroxide production site in the United States and an increasingly important supply hub for the growing electric vehicle industry, the company says. It says the expansion will boost the plant’s lithium hydroxide production by 50% or 5,000 tonnes/year and help meet growing demand from EV battery materials.

“The expansion represents the first new lithium hydroxide facility in North America in more than a decade,” says president and ceo Paul Graves.

The Pennsylvania-based company is expanding its overall operations to boost lithium hydroxide production from 25,000 t/y to 55,000 t/y by the end of 2025. It is also working to boost its lithium carbonate production.

The plant will benefit from incentives offered under the federal Inflation Reduction Act that encourages the use of lithium produced in the US, the company says.