KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
Key Takeaway: Northvolt, Europe’s leading EV battery manufacturer, is grappling with production issues, missed targets, and financial strains, underscoring the difficulties of scaling up in the competitive battery market. Production Challenges Missed Targets: Northvolt has been consistently missing weekly production goals for shippable battery cells since September. Internal documents show a target of 51,000 cells per week by the end of 2024, but recent output was around 26,000 cells for the week ending Nov. 10. The original "Path to 100k" roadmap aiming for 100,000 cells per week this year has now been classified as "informal" and is not expected to be met. Operational Issues: Production at one of two manufacturing buildings in Skellefteå was suspended in late October and is expected to remain halted until December. To cut costs, Northvolt has ended 24/7 production cycles , now operating only on weekdays. Key Obstacles: Faulty machinery, inexperienced staff, ...