Asahi Kasei, the Japanese chemical industry conglomerate, has confirmed the company’s plans to establish an integrated lithium-ion battery (LIB) separator plant in Port Colborne in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada.
The new facility will operate as Asahi Kasei Battery Separator Canada, with commercial production slated to start in 2027.
The project is expected to benefit from federal support through the Clean Technology Manufacturing investment tax credit. The local Ontario government is expected to support this project with both direct and indirect incentives.
Koshiro Kudo, President & Representative Director of Asahi Kasei Corporation, said: “As demand for electric vehicles – and the lithium-ion batteries that power them – continues to rise, we are eager to bring the first Hipore wet-process lithium-ion separator manufacturing facility to Canada.” Hipore is a microporous polyolefin sheet.
Asahi Kasei will invest approximately CA$1.56 billion ($1.16 billion) to install approximately 700 million square metres of annual separator capacity.
Daramic, an Asahi Kasei subsidiary, has appointed Fabio Trigo as senior director of Americas sales and global marketing. He was previously director of sales and marketing for South America, based in São Paulo, Brazil.