Asahi Kasei will expand production of lithium battery separators

Recently, Asahi Kasei Corporation of Japan stated that it will invest 40 billion yen to expand its lithium-ion battery coating separator capabilities.

The company will build more production lines in Charlotte, North Carolina, the United States, Hyuga City, Japan, and Pyeongtaek City, South Korea, with a new production capacity of 700 million square meters per year, and is expected to be put into production in the first half of 2026. The expanded production capacity will increase Asahi Kasei’s lithium-ion battery coating separator production capacity to approximately 1.2 billion square meters per year, capable of supplying battery coating separators equivalent to 1.7 million electric vehicles.

Asahi Kasei produces two types of wet-process lithium-ion battery separators, a polyolefin microporous base film separator and a coated separator produced by coating a base film with ceramic and other coatings, the company said.