Commissioning of the expanded production units will begin in this year’s fourth quarter. BASF said the expansion will enable the JV to produce 100,000 t/y of cathode active materials (CAM) and their precursors (PCAM), which are a key component of lithium-ion batteries.

Production will leverage the Chinese company’s broad industrial operation experience and the German group’ chemical process design know-how. The new lines at the Chinese sites are designed to manufacture advanced products that will meet diversified needs, from high-nickel and ultra-high-nickel nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide (NCM) for polycrystalline and single crystalline, as well as manganese-rich NCM products.

The new units are equipped with innovative energy recovery technologies including off-gas, waste heat and oxygen recycling. It will be the first time that such technologies have been used in the battery industry.

Manganese-rich products are already manufactured on a multi-tonne scale, and the goal is to further accelerate and broadening their use in the market, said Peter Schuhmacher, president of BASF’s Catalysts division. These products, he said, offer customers a cost advantage. Manganese is the most abundantly available metal compared with cobalt or nickel, which have recently been subject to significant price increases and fluctuations.

BASF and Shanshan formed the joint venture in mid-2021. The Chinese company operates four production sites for CAM and PCAM in Hunan and Ningxia, China. Last year it said it expects to have capacity to produce 90,000 t/y of the materials by 2022.

Solvay completes PDVF expansion in China

Belgian chemical major Solvay is also investing in supply of battery chemicals for the electronic vehicle automotive market. The company recently announced the completion of an expansion project that doubles capacity for high-performance polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PDVF) at Changsu, China.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist