EVelution Energy’s $850M Cobalt Supply Deal With Mitsui Aims to Tighten Critical Minerals Supply Chain
U.S. battery storage critical minerals supplier EVelution Energy announced a binding long-term offtake agreement valued at roughly $850 million with Japanese general trading company Mitsui & Co. to help advance an American commercial-scale solar-powered cobalt processing facility.
Over a five-year term period, EVelution Energy will reportedly supply its Tokyo-based partner with a “substantial majority” of cobalt metal and cobalt sulfate processed from its facility in Yuma County, Arizona, currently under development.
The facility is projected to produce up to 3,000 metric tons of contained cobalt (cobalt sulfate and/or cobalt metal) per year. When fully operational, the company says the Arizona facility is expected to produce up to 7,000 metric tons of contained cobalt annually.
“Establishing secure cobalt processing infrastructure in the United States is essential to strengthening the resilience of the U.S. industrial base and reducing long-term strategic dependence on non-allied refining capacity,” stated Navaid Alam, president & CEO of EVelution Energy, in a statement.
EVelution Energy states that the planned facility is expected to supply U.S. cobalt across multiple manufacturing sectors, including aerospace, EV batteries, and the U.S. industrial base. Cobalt, a silvery gray metal, is critical to the energy transition for high-performance microchips, satellite systems, permanent magnets, and superalloys for turbine engines in aircraft.
This agreement comes as both the U.S. and Japan aim to strengthen their relationship as allies involving supply chains for energy and critical minerals, and eventually break away from that dependence on China. In March, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a $73 billion investment plan in U.S. energy projects and joint critical minerals research to ensure economic security amid the ongoing threat posed by geopolitical competitors.
More than 75% of global refined cobalt production comes from China, while it holds minimal domestic reserves, according to research from a 2024 market cobalt report. This has increased vulnerability from countries like the U.S., which reportedly has no commercial-scale cobalt processing infrastructure currently in place.
China, being the world's leading refiner of cobalt by a wide margin, caused disruptions to global production during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the U.S. being one of the largest consumers of lithium-ion batteries in daily-use items like cellphones, it only produces 12% of the annual 316 GWh of lithium cell manufacturing capacity, according to the National Library of Medicine (NLM). China manufactures and accounts for 73% of annual production.
Researchers from NLM estimated that China’s lithium-ion battery market was pegged at $36.7 billion in 2019 and is projected to hit $129.3 billion by 2027.
Construction of the U.S. facility is expected to begin in early 2027 with targeted completion by the end of 2029. The EVelution Energy-Mitsui project is expected to create more than 3,300 jobs in Yuma County, as it also focuses on closing the gap in the domestic supply chain market for critical minerals and reshoring the industry.
