Kureha and Itochu plan to form a joint venture to build a new plant, investing $34.6m-$46.1m for the manufacture and sale of lithium ion battery materials in the US before 2011.
The plant is expected to produce 1,000t of lithium-ion anode materials annually that are used in lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles.
The new plant will use Kureha's Carbotron P-brand hard carbon as an anode active material to make the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries longer and more stable, according to the Charleston Daily Mail.
The companies have agreed with EnerDel, a US company, to hire a US engineering firm to conduct a pre-engineering and cost estimate for the proposed plant.
