Cursor's expertise and the region's industrial heritage contributed to Easpring Finland's decision to locate in Kotka
Easpring Finland New Materials Oy is building a cathode materials plant in Kotka, in the Keltakallio industrial area. Easpring Finland’s Chief Commercial Officer Vesa Koivisto believes in the development of the Kotka-Hamina region.
– We would not have started investing in an area where the future did not look bright.
Easpring started planning the investment project for the European production plant in 2018-2019. They started looking for a location for the plant and ended up in Kotka.
– Easpring’s partner, Suomen Malmijalostus (FMG), presented ten different options for the location of the plant in Finland. The main advantages of the Kotka region were the plot of land on which to locate, the paving work done by Cursor’s Invest In team and Kotka’s readiness for the plant. We also benefited from cooperation with other players in the Finnish battery industry, such as Terrafame’s nickel and cobalt operations, Keliber’s lithium project and the precursor plants planned for Finland.
Cursor’s strong desire to help contributed to the investment project
According to Koivisto, Cursor has extremely strong expertise and a first-class willingness to help. While Easpring’s investment was still under consideration, Cursor and FMG formed a team to work together to answer the questions posed by Easpring.
– Cursor played a key role in convincing Easpring of the Kotka region. In particular, Cursor’s experts sought answers to questions relating to local issues such as electricity networks, town and country planning and contracting. They also looked at the availability of labour and staff housing. Their local knowledge was of great help.
The cooperation between Easpring and Cursor will continue and the Invest In team experts will also support the further development and implementation of the project.
– Cursor is working hard to enable industrial growth in the region.
The Kotka-Hamina region understands industrial projects
Thanks to the region’s strong industrial heritage, the region’s strong electricity network and the functionality of its logistics were also a factor in Easpring.
– We need efficient logistics to transport raw materials to our plant. We process the raw material and send it on to Europe.
Koivisto says the region’s long history in the process industry is a good thing.
– The region has the understanding for large industrial investment projects. The manufacture of cathode material is a chemical process industry, which is not entirely new to the region.