Umicore to Invest in Battery Material Production

Posted in Industry News on 20th April 2010

Speciality materials group, Umicore are set to invest $42.8 million in the production of lithium ion battery materials in Kobe, Japan, boosting the company’s vital presence in the country.

It is hoped that the significant investment will more than triple its annual output of materials needed for rechargeable batteries used in hybrid and electric vehicles by 2013. With this announcement, Umicore are anticipating a surge in demand.

The investment has qualified for a subsidy from the Japanese authorities under the initiative of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to help promote the development of low carbon industries.

As well as boosting Umicore’s presence in Japan, their investment within Asia is also expected to ramp up their production capacity at its existing operations in South Korea and China.

As mentioned previously, the investment will focus on further development and production of a newer type of cathode material that can be used for notebook PC’s and batteries in the automotive industry. As a result, this should help drive demand for lithium ion cathode materials and there are strong signals that nickel manganese and cobalt compounds will play a significant part in these applications.

Umicore has had a strong presence in Japan since 1926 when the company originally started selling cobalt within the Asian market.

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