Paints giant Kansai wants to enter the field of battery materials and will conduct research in 2020

The battery is one of the key technologies in the future of electric vehicles. Currently, cathode materials used in lithium ion batteries have attracted attention in applications such as electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). Today, the number of manufacturers actively adopting lithium-ion batteries in EVs, PHEVs and hybrid vehicles has increased significantly. Therefore, the future market prospects of lithium-ion battery materials are optimistic.

On November 19th, Kansai Paint Co., Ltd. (Kansai) announced the second and fourth half of the final account presentation materials, the company plans to develop lithium-ion battery material technology. Kansai Paint believes that the company's pigment dispersion technology will be applied to lithium-ion battery materials that will be developed in the future, and will conduct comprehensive practical application research.

The final report shows that the application target of Kansai coating lithium-ion battery material technology includes four steps, basic research - application research - market development - market expansion, the company will conduct basic research in 2020, and will conduct applied research around 2025. Lithium-ion battery materials will be introduced to the market, and the market share of this material will be further expanded in 2030.

Founded in 1918, Kansai Paints is principally engaged in the research, development, production and sales of coatings for automotive coatings, automotive refinishes, marine coatings, anticorrosive coatings, architectural coatings, industrial coatings, various functional coatings, environmentally friendly coatings and coatings. Use various types of resins and raw materials. Sales for the fiscal year 2018 were $3.7759 billion.

According to the financial report, Kansai Paint's automotive coatings business accounted for approximately 38% of sales in FY2018. Kansai Paints is a global leader in automotive coatings. The global market share of automotive coatings is about 20%. Among them, automotive refinish paints account for 34% of the Japanese market, ranking first. In Japan, the OEM market share is as high as 52%, and it has a 23% share in the original paint matching market in China. Cooperative customers include major automakers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Industry analysts said that Kansai Paints will use existing customer resources and use global sales networks to sell lithium-ion battery materials for EVs and PHEVs to major auto manufacturers. It is understood that large automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota and GM are actively launching EV and PHEV, which will drive the demand for lithium-ion battery materials. Kansai paints are looking at the huge potential demand.