Zeon temporarily freezes investment in US battery binder production

Tokyo – Zeon Corp. has announced that it is temporarily freezing its investment plan for the construction of a Li-ion battery binders production line in the US.

The plan to build the unit at Zeon Chemicals’ facility in Pasadena, Texas was initially disclosed in September 2023 and production was scheduled for 2026. (ERJ report)

However, in a 31 Jan statement, the Japanese group said it was putting the project on hold for two years in response to “the changing business environment and market trends.”

Zeon has been supplying binder materials for batteries since 1995 and has developed its flagship aqueous SBR binders for negative electrodes.

The Japanese group holds a broad intellectual property portfolio related to Li-ion batteries.

In 2023, Zeon said it was investing in the project as the Li-ion battery market was set for "rapid growth in North America and Europe with each expected to reach 1000 GWh of cell making capacity in coming years."

The new production line, it said at the time, will enable “localised, western hemisphere production for servicing these growing markets.”

With demand on the decline over the recent months, the group said it would “continue to closely monitor market trends” to determine “the best investment strategy.”