Toda America Building Cathode Material Plant in Battle Creek, MI

28 February 2010

Toda America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toda Kogyo Corp. in Japan, recently concluded a $35-million award contract with the US Department of Energy (DOE), granted under the Recovery Act – Electric Device Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative last August for the production of nickel-cobalt-metal cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. (Earlier post.)

Toda America plans to build a $70-million manufacturing plant for the cathode materials in Battle Creek, Michigan as soon as the site remediation work is completed and regulatory approvals are obtained in the next 1-2 months. Toda expects to complete Phase 1 and plans to start its operation in February, 2011.

The plant will be expanded step by step until 2013, reaching its full manufacturing capacity of 4,000 tons of finished product per year. The total sales volume based on the full capacity operation at the facility will be around $130 million.

In parallel with the Award Contract with DOE, Toda America has been working with the State of Michigan and the City of Battle Creek to finalize various agreements and financial incentives for the manufacturing plant in Battle Creek based on the planned job creation and capital investment.