ICL Group Ltd. ICL recently announced that it has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Shenzhen Dynanonic Co., Ltd. to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material (CAM) in Europe, with an initial investment of roughly €285 million. A new plant at ICL's Sallent, Spain, site is being planned, which will significantly expand the company's battery materials business. The initiative illustrates ICL's efforts to produce high-quality solutions for a sustainable supply chain and marks a substantial move to expand the company's battery materials range in Europe.

This expansion builds on ICL's strong worldwide upstream position in specialized phosphates and leverages Dynanonic's strengths as a leading producer of battery materials, to create a significant new market for growth. LFP is a crucial response for the future of Europe's energy transition. 

This JV corresponds to Dynanonic and ICL's ambitions and capitalizes on each of their capabilities, as they seek to benefit from the growth of the European lithium-ion battery market. Establishing the project in Spain strengthens the companies’ footprint in the European market while keeping them close to customers, increasing their competitiveness and supporting their objective of becoming a leading global provider of novel energy material solutions.

ICL Stock’s Price Performance

ICL’s shares have gained 31% in the past year compared with the Zacks Fertilizers industry’s 2.4% rise.

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ICL Group’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

ICL currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other top-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS, Sylvamo Corporation SLVM and New Gold Inc. NGD.

Carpenter Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 14.1%. The company's shares have soared 222.3% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Sylvamo, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #1, beat the consensus estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. In this time frame, it has delivered an earnings surprise of roughly 16.7%, on average. SLVM’s shares have rallied 65.9% over the past year. 

New Gold, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #1, beat the consensus estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, while missing once. In this time frame, it has delivered an earnings surprise of roughly 37.5%, on average. NGD’s shares have rallied 132% over the past year. 

 

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