Batteries are one of the key technologies in future electric vehicles. Currently, cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries have attracted much attention in applications such as electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV). Today, EVs, PHEVs, and hybrid vehicles have significantly increased their use of lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, the future market prospects of lithium-ion battery materials are promising.
On November 19, Kansai Paint Co., Ltd. (Kansai) announced the 2nd and fourth half of the final account presentation materials show that the company plans to develop lithium ion battery material technology development. Kansai Coatings believes that the company's pigment dispersion technology will be suitable for lithium ion battery materials that will be developed in the future, and comprehensive practical application research will be conducted.
According to the data of the briefing conference, the application target of Kansai Paint's lithium-ion battery material technology includes four steps: basic research-applied research-market expansion-market expansion. The company will conduct basic research in 2020, and apply research around 2025. And to bring lithium-ion battery materials to the market, the material market share will be further expanded by 2030.
Established in 1918, Kansai Coatings is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of coatings. Its products cover automotive coatings, automotive refinish coatings, marine coatings, anticorrosive coatings, architectural coatings, industrial coatings, various functional coatings, environmental protection coatings and coatings. With various resins and raw materials. Fiscal 2018 sales were $ 3.7759 billion.
According to the financial report, Kansai Coatings' automotive coatings business accounted for about 38% of its sales in fiscal 2018. Kansai Coatings has a leading position in the global automotive coatings field. The global market share of automotive coatings is about 20%, of which: automotive refinish paints occupy 34% of the Japanese market, ranking first. It has a 52% market share in Japan's OEM market and a 23% market share in China's original paint industry. Cooperating customers include Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other well-known automobile manufacturers.
Industry analysts said that Kansai Paint may use existing customer resources and use a global sales network to promote lithium-ion battery materials for EV and PHEV to major auto manufacturers. It is understood that BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, GM and other large auto manufacturers are currently actively launching EV and PHEV, which will drive the market demand for lithium-ion battery materials. Kansai Coatings is seeing huge potential demand.