Japan’s Toray Industries Inc. is establishing a new production facility for battery separator films (BSF) for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) in Nyergesújfalu, northern Hungary.
The new unit will be located at the site of Toray Industries Hungary (THU), which was established in April 2018, the Tokyo-based materials supplier announced 16 July.
Scheduled for operation in July 2021, the plant will increase Toray Group’s total BSF production capacity by approximately 20 percent.
The Japanese group already manufactures the films at its production plant in Nasu, Japan, and in South Korea, where it operates Toray Battery Separator Film Korea Ltd and Toray BSF Coating Korea Ltd, which handles coating processes.
In 2017, Toray announced investments to expand capacity at the two Korean locations and the new lines have already become operational.
Toray expects global demand for BSF to expand rapidly, due to steady growth in consumer applications such as mobile electronics and energy storage systems, as well as the anticipated increase in automotive applications as electric vehicles (EVs).
“In Europe in particular, where environmental awareness is increasing, it is anticipated that eco-friendly EVs will rapidly spread, and battery manufacturers are also actively entering European markets,” Toray said in its statement.
The new production plant in Hungary is in line with Toray’s strategy to manufacture locally, and is part of the company’s medium-term management program, which seeks to expand high value-added products for business growth.
Electric vehicle manufacturing has been growing in Hungary where Audi launched production of EV cars at its assembly plant in Győr while China's BYD group is building electric powered buses in Komárom.
At least three Asian companies, SK Innovation and Samsung of South Korean as well as Japan's GS Yuasa currently operate battery manufacturing facilities in the country.