Recruitments of Easpring Finland are progressing rapidly, and a group of the first employees have left for a training period at Easpring’s factory in Changzhou in January. The main goal is to teach the new employees the technical skills required for producing cathode active material in Kotka.
A group of 25 new Easpring Finland employees has started their training period at Easpring’s cathode active material factory in Changzhou, China. The onboarding for the group, consisting of production, quality control, maintenance, and administrative personnel, began after Christmas with a week-long module in Kotka, after which the new employees flew to China for further practical training.
“The main goal of the training period is to train this first group of Kotka employees to produce cathode active material in Finland. Production expertise is currently concentrated in China, and Easpring is one of the world’s leading producers of cathode materials,” says Vesa Koivisto, Chief Commercial Officer of Easpring Finland.
“I also want to thank the City of Kotka, as with our own buildings still under construction, we were able to hold the initial onboarding period at the Kotka City Library. Thanks to all the library staff for the seamless arrangements,” Koivisto adds.
The training covers, for example, the basics of industrial production of battery materials, practical production processes, quality control and testing, equipment maintenance, production safety, legislation, as well as health and environmentally friendly production practices. Depending on the employee’s role, the training period in China can last up to three months.
In Changzhou, the employees participate in the practical production of battery materials in small groups. Learned topics are reviewed and discussed at the end of the day in classrooms and group discussions.
The employees will also visit Easpring’s headquarters in Beijing. At the same time, they can, if they wish, participate in Easpring staff’s Chinese New Year celebrations and visit China’s most important attractions, such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.
In addition, as part of the training, Easpring offers the Kotka factory’s employee group a deep dive into Chinese culture. For example, they will be offered food tasting and a friendly hockey match in cooperation with local actors, such as the Changzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau.
Construction work at Easpring Finland’s Kotka factory has progressed according to schedule. The main building of the factory reached its rooftop height at the end of 2025, and construction work and the installation of cathode active material production equipment are currently running in parallel at the factory. Easpring Finland is preparing to produce its first product samples in summer 2026 and to start commercial production during 2027.
Easpring Finland New Materials Oy
Established in March 2024, Easpring Finland New Materials Oy is a joint venture of which Beijing Easpring Material Technology Co., Ltd., listed in ChiNext, owns 70 percent and Finnish Minerals Group 30 percent. The purpose of the company is to produce cathode active materials for the needs of the European production facilities of Easpring’s existing and new customers. www.easpring.fi
