STORY: Spain's business community welcomes Stellantis and CATL alliance to build EV battery plant
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 16, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 17, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:42
LOCATION: Madrid
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the area designated for the construction of the factory
2. various of agreement signing ceremony between Stellantis and CATL
3. various of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez meeting with visiting CATL Chairman and CEO Zeng Yuqun
4. various of the city of Zaragoza
5. various of the Stellantis automotive plant
6. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JOSE MIGUEL SANCHEZ, Managing director of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce
7. various of the Stellantis plant 
8. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): JOSE MIGUEL SANCHEZ, Managing director of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce
9. various of battery manufacturing
10. SOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): JOSE MIGUEL SANCHEZ, Managing director of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce
11. various of battery manufacturing

STORYLINE:

Spain's business community has welcomed the recent announcement that multinational automaker Stellantis and Chinese battery producer CATL have teamed up to invest up to 4.1 billion euros (4.31 billion U.S. dollars) to form a joint venture for building a large-scale European lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Spain's Zaragoza. 

According to CATL, the 50-50 joint venture is designed to be completely carbon-neutral and will be implemented in several phases and investment plans.

"Targeted to start production by end of 2026 at Stellantis' Zaragoza, Spain site, the facility could reach up to 50 GWh capacity, subject to the evolution of the electrical market in Europe and continued support from authorities in Spain and the European Union," the Chinese company said in a press release posted on its website.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JOSE MIGUEL SANCHEZ, Managing director of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce
"This investment will consolidate a main sector of the Aragonese economy, which is the automotive sector, and I'd say the satisfaction is very great around this highly anticipated announcement, and from that point of view the reaction has been very, very positive."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): JOSE MIGUEL SANCHEZ, Managing director of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce
"It will have an impact on the GDP of Aragon that we estimate will be about a one-and-a-half percent increase, while the impact on employment will also be very relevant, and then there will be the additional impact on consumption and what derives from that."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): JOSE MIGUEL SANCHEZ, Managing director of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce
"This is an initial step towards consolidating more investments in this sector from China. That is to say, I see this as a first floor for building more of these types of relationships and especially in this industry"

CATL has two plants already operational in Germany and Hungary. The new plant in Spain underscores its commitment to advancing e-mobility and energy transition efforts in Europe and the global market. 

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Madrid.
(XHTV)