The Electric

The Electric: A Battery Chemical Company Falls Victim to the China Playbook

Industrial conglomerate Huntsman Corp. says it halted a $50 million battery investment after Chinese companies flooded the market with the component it planned to manufacture. Photo: Courtesy Huntsman.
By
Steve LeVine

In 2021, Peter Huntsman, CEO of industrial conglomerate Huntsman Corp., decided to invest $50 million in the expansion of a chemicals plant in Conroe, Texas. The move would significantly boost the plant’s production of ethylene carbonate, an essential ingredient in the batteries that power electric vehicles, at the time viewed as a juggernaut of a new industry.