DB Schenker says it has been awarded the contract to provide comprehensive project construction freight forwarding and logistics services to Albemarle’s Kemerton lithium expansion project (KEP) in Western Australia, supporting engineering contractor will be Hatch Australia.

The KEP is DB Schenker’s first foray into the rapidly growing battery metals mining industry, with the plant approximately 150 km south of Perth, Western Australia, near the the Port of Bunbury and close to one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium deposits, the Greenbushes mine.

The work will be supported by the DB Schenker Project Control Tower office, in Perth, in conjunction with the company’s global network of project offices specialised and accustomed to the unique logistics service requirements of the industry, it says.

“We have a proven track record of working safely and efficiently, even on the most remote sites and mega projects in the world,” Frank Vogel, VP Global Projects & Industry Solutions APAC, said.

The Kemerton plant initially consisted of three production trains, each producing 20,000 t/y of lithium hydroxide, with a potential expansion to five trains that will see production increase to 100,000 t/y by around 2025. The plant will be supplied with lithium concentrate produced at the nearby Greenbushes mine.