European battery industry built through the Port of HaminaKotka

Terrafame which operates in Sotkamo in Finland made a decision in 2018 at the dawn of the transport electrification boom to invest in a battery chemical factory, where the nickel and cobalt produced by the company would be processed into chemicals used in the batteries of electric cars. Terrafame has since claimed its place in the supply chain of the European battery industry. The company’s current core mission is to reduce the carbon footprint of transport.

Due to the method based on bioleaching, the nickel sulphate produced by Terrafame has one of the smallest carbon footprints in the industry. Moreover, Terrafame offers its customers a transparent, traceable and genuinely European production chain of battery chemicals, where the production process from the mine to battery chemicals is located in a single industrial area.

The transition from a mining operator to a partner of the European battery industry has required Terrafame to find new types of logistics solutions that match the company’s sustainability principles. In the spring of 2021, Terrafame signed co-operation agreements with Port of HaminaKotka Ltd on the development of its container transport and with

Rauanheimo and VR Transpoint on a comprehensive logistics solution that covers the entire supply chain from the production facility in Sotkamo via the Port of HaminaKotka to the international market.

Innovative, efficient and low-emission logistics solution

In line with the start-up of the battery chemical factory, the transport operations also started in the winter of 2022–2023.

“An innovative, efficient and low-emission logistics solution consolidates Terrafame’s delivery capability and supports our position as an enabler of climate-friendly battery production. Maintaining high quality and making deliveries according to the agreed schedules are of paramount importance to our customers,” says Henrik Hagström , Terrafame’s Export Manager.

“The key features of our battery chemical transport are efficiency, safety and climate aspects. The trains are driven efficiently by electricity from Sotkamo to the Port of HaminaKotka. The cargo capacity of the trains has also been maximised, and our partner VR Transpoint has modified the structure of the waggons so that a waggon can hold three sea transport containers instead of the normal two,” says Henrik Hagström. Rauanheimo, which is responsible for the logistics services of Terrafame’s battery chemical factory, together with other partners has planned the transport schedules so that the loading and unloading of the waggons is as efficient as possible.

Being the biggest container port in Finland, the Port of HaminaKotka can offer several daily connections to all parts of the world via the key seaports in Europe.

“At full capacity, the exports of Terrafame’s battery chemical factory mean a daily loading of 25 to 30 sea containers and transporting them to the port on three weekly trains. The partnership with Terrafame has been a significant new sector for us in the battery industry business,” says Kimmo Naski , CEO of Port of HaminaKotka Ltd.

Battery chemicals are taken to Terrafame’s customers, such as European car manufacturers, through the Mussalo Harbour of Port of HaminaKotka. Terrafame’s battery chemicals may soon be found, for example, in the batteries of Renault, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep or Opel electric cars.