Japan's Idemitsu to build large-scale production facility for lithium sulfide

Idemitsu Kosan Co

27/02/2025 06:35

TOKYO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co 5019.T said on Thursday it will construct a large-scale production facility for lithium sulfide at its Chiba site.

Completion of the production facility is scheduled for June 2027 and the project cost is estimated to be about 21.3 billion yen ($142.65 million), the company said.

The new plant will have a production capacity of 1,000 metric tons per year, sufficient to produce solid electrolyte for manufacturing 50,000–60,000 electric vehicles annually.

Idemitsu aims to commercialize all-solid-state batteries with Toyota Motor 7203.T by 2027-28 and plans to supply its solid electrolyte to Toyota first.

The company intends to make a final investment decision in fiscal year 2025 to build a large-scale pilot plant for solid electrolyte and is seeking stable lithium procurement from Australia and other overseas sources.

($1 = 149.3200 yen)

 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi, writing by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Eileen Soreng)

 ((kaori.kaneko@thomsonreuters.com;))