The Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price is joining in with the wider market selldown on Thursday.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining stock closed yesterday trading for $20.61. At the time of writing, shares are swapping hands for $20.54, down 0.32%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.5% at this same time as well, following the overnight interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve.
That's the latest Fortescue share price action for you.
Now, what's all this about a battery factory in the United States?
ASX 200 miner upping its sustainable energy footprint
In a move that could offer some tailwinds to the Fortescue share price over the longer term, the company announced a deal for a new battery manufacturing plant in Detroit, Michigan.
As the Herald Sun reports, the plant will cover some 37,000 square metres and produce battery systems for Fortescue's electric mining trucks.
Fortescue is leveraging the technology it inherited from Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE).
Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) boss Mark Hutchinson said the new battery factory was part of the company's plan to tap into the US$1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA contains some US$369 billion in clean energy initiative subsidies.
"You stack the numbers up, and it's so compelling," Hutchinson said.
The ASX 200 miner acquired WAE in January 2022 for roughly US$223 million.
At the time, Fortescue noted WAE provided "critical technology and expertise in high-performance battery systems and electrification".
Atop supporting the miner's decarbonisation by 2030 efforts, and potentially the Fortescue share price, management noted the acquisition also established "an important new business growth opportunity".
In July, CEO Andrew Forrest said the company was actively seeking to cash in on the billions of dollars available from the US IRA.
"We're mobilising capital, equipment and expertise," he said.
Forrest added:
In the United Kingdom, we have a record of expanding WAE very significantly since we purchased it. But we will put even greater capital into the United States, where the incentives just make it inordinately difficult not to invest there.
It's absolutely IRA-driven. If you have external shareholders that you're responsible to, you have to develop manufacturing capability around the world, but particularly in the United States because the incentives are so significant.
From the sound of it, the new battery plant in Detroit is unlikely to be Fortescue's last major green energy project in the US.
Fortescue share price snapshot
The Fortescue share price is up 24% over the past 12 months.
Year to date, shares in the ASX 200 miner have gained 1%.
