KBR Awarded Contract by Chemetall Foote Corp. for Lithium Hydroxide Operation Expansion

KBR (NYSE: KBR) announced that its Downstream business unit has been awarded a contract to provide engineering and procurement services to Chemetall Foote Corp. (a subsidiary of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ROC)) for the addition of lithium hydroxide production at its current operation in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The project is funded in part by a $28.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand and upgrade the production of lithium materials for advanced transportation batteries.

The award of this contract follows the execution by KBR of various development services from Front-End Loading Feasibility through the current stage of the project. KBR will work in support of Chemetall Foote to help the company meet its goal of increasing lithium hydroxide production in response to an increase in demand and forecasted growth of electric vehicles. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

“This award is significant as it represents a growing and relatively new industry within the energy sector,” said John Quinn, President, KBR Downstream. “We are proud to build upon our existing relationship with Chemetall Foote and look forward to applying and expanding our capabilities in a growing market.”

The DOE grant funding is provided under the Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative (DE-FOA-0000026) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) that provides up to approximately $2 billion in federal stimulus funding to support the creation of American jobs while promoting the development of U.S.-based advanced battery production for the EDV market.

KBR is a global engineering, construction and services company supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil infrastructure, power and industrial markets. For more information, visit www.kbr.com.

Chemetall Foote, a member of the Chemetall group headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, is the world's leading manufacturer of lithium-based compounds and an innovative developer of metal-based fine chemicals for use in specialty applications. Chemetall's lithium-based compounds are used in a variety of high growth applications, including base chemicals for numerous industries, drug intermediates, elastomers for car tires and rubber soles, lithium batteries, thermoplastic materials and high performance greases.

Chemetall has lithium production facilities in the United States, Chile, Germany and Taiwan. Rockwood Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Chemetall, is a leading global specialty chemicals and advanced materials company. Rockwood has a worldwide employee base of approximately 9,500 people and annual net sales of approximately $3 billion. The company focuses on global niche segments of the specialty chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets. For more information on Rockwood, please visit www.rocksp.com.

KBR (NYSE:KBR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024