Japanese chemicals company Asahi Kasei will invest in additional equipment for coating Hipore lithium-ion battery (LIB) separators.

From the first half of fiscal year 2026, Asahi Kasei LIB separator facilities in the US, Japan, and South Korea will start installing new coating lines. Hipore wet-process LIB separators from Asahi Kasei are polyolefin microporous base film membranes and coated membrane separators with ceramic and other coatings. The ¥40 billion ($269 million) expansion will increase Asahi Kasei’s LIB separator coating capacity to 1.2 billion m²/year, enough to equip batteries for about 1.7 million EVs.

Asahi Kasei will look to make further investments, including establishing new Hipore membrane manufacturing facilities, to increase its supply infrastructure for the North American and Japanese markets.

“Expanding Hipore operations globally to keep pace with the EV market is an important milestone for our separator business,” said Hiroyoshi Matsuyama, President of the company’s Environmental Solutions Strategic Business Unit. “We support the growth of our customers abroad and with the help of our established global locations, we can do that by investing in existing infrastructure and then expanding further with new greenfield sites as needed to meet regional demand.”

Source: Asahi Kasei