At a high-profile press conference in early May, the bombshell was dropped – a Chinese company, PTL, will establish manufacturing that provides 1,900 jobs in the region. The company will produce graphite powder, which is required to manufacture car batteries.
Environmental effects clear in new report
The establishment will take place in two stages and by the beginning of 2027 around 100,000 tonnes of graphite powder will be produced per year.
The environmental permit application is now pending, and in an initial report, the company assesses that the operations have a significant impact on the environment.
Among other things, 265 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide – two acidifying substances – as well as volatile substances that form ground ozone will be released into the air annually.
Half a million tonnes of raw materials shipped from Europe
As raw materials for graphite powder production, residual products from the petroleum industry will be used, substances such as petroleum coke and carbon black.
The raw material, half a million tonnes annually, will be transported from the UK and Europe to, among other places, the port of Söråker and then taken over by truck. The company expects up to 100 heavy transports per working day on the roads to the production site.
According to the background report from IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, the company's assessment is that the operations in Torsboda "are assumed to have significant environmental impact".
The preliminary timetable is for the permit application to be submitted in October 2023.