BASF and TODA to expand their Japanese JV’s capacity for high nickel cathode active materials

BASF and TODA KOGYO will further expand the production capacity of BASF TODA Battery Materials LLC (BTBM) at the Onoda site in Japan. BTBM is a BASF majority-owned joint venture with TODA formed in 2015 (BASF 66%; TODA 34%).

BTBM Onoda site. Located in Sanyo-Onoda city, Yamaguchi prefecture, the Onoda site was built for cathode material production in 2003. The production facilities were expanded in 2011, 2012 and 2017. The R&D center is also located here, where it develops cathode materials such as High-energy (HE) NCM.

Construction for the new capacity at the Onoda site will start in Q4 2022 and commercial production is planned for the second half of 2024. BTBM’s annual capacity for high nickel cathode active materials (CAM) will achieve up to 60,000 tons by 2025. The expansion to increase the supply of high nickel cathode active materials for up to 45 GWh cell capacity per year

BTBM today is a leader for high nickel CAM materials of superior quality and plays an important role in BASF’s global production network for battery materials. This investment at the Onoda site, already one of the world’s largest calcination facilities for CAM, will support our customers’ ambitious growth plans in Japan and worldwide. We will introduce an innovative and proprietary new production process allowing highest throughput rate combined with consistent highest quality.

—Dr. Peter Schuhmacher, President, Catalysts division at BASF

The new expansion project has been selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a “Program for Promoting Investment in Japan to Strengthen Supply Chains” and has been granted subsidies.

BASF TODA Battery Materials LLC provides state-of-the-art cathode active materials (CAM) including Nickel Cobalt Aluminum (NCA) oxide and Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) oxide for lithium-ion batteries. Its business scope covers R&D, production, sales and marketing.