February
2012

11

Seeking materials for a better life.
Establishing a production, research and developmentbase for lithium-ion battery materials in the city of Kobe

Umicore is a leading materials technology company of Belgium with a historyof nearly 200 years. Under the motto, Materials for a better life, thecompany, aiming to optimize the use of limited resources and to minimize its
environmental impact, is developing its business globally. In FY 2010 theGroup boasted total sales exceeding 1 trillion yen with an operating proﬁt ofaround 38 billion yen. Since establishing its ﬁrst sales oﬃce in Tokyo in 1926,
Umicore has developed its business in Japan by constructing plants in Ibaraki
Prefecture and Kanagawa prefecture and by establishing a Joint Venture with
Nippon Shokubai with a manufacturing plant in Himeji.
In this article excerpts from a lecture by Umicore Japan s Representative
Director and President Luc Gellens (held in November 2011) will beintroduced.

Utilizing high-tech materials over andover again.
Umicore s business philosophy is centered on thecreation of solutions for a wide range of hi-techmaterials, using its expertise in chemistry, materialscience and metallurgy. Metals have this uniquecharacteristic that they are inﬁnitely recyclable
without losing their properties and Umicore
distinguishes itself by recycling products that
contain its materials, once these products reachthe end of their life. Closing the materials loop is at
the heart of their business and contributes to theeﬃcient use of scarce natural resources.
In recent years, in response to the major trends insociety, Umicore has committed to manufacturing
materials for photovoltaic power generation andfor secondary batteries, which are necessary for
laptop computers and mobile phones as well as
for electriﬁed vehicles.

Establishing a new plant on Kobe
Port Island.
The market for lithium-ion batteries for portableproducts, such as tablet devices and smart
phones, has grown tremendously over the last 10years and will continue to thrive. Furthermore,
the demand for hybrid vehicles and electricvehicles is expected to more than double in thenext 10 years.
To respond to this trend, Umicore decided toestablish a production plant for lithium-ion
battery materials and a technical center inJapan. Kobe Port Island was selected fromamong all the possible sites in Japan Capital
investment was approximately 4 billion yen.
While the current surface area of the Kobe
Plant, which started operation in 2011, is
3,700 square meters, the total site area ismore than 20,000 square meters and oﬀers
plenty of space for expansion. The facility
will hire approximately 40 highly trained
employees in its ﬁrst phase. In the long termplan, the company hopes to continue thedevelopment of its activities and to oﬀer
more employment opportunities for highly
skilled people.

Things made possible by Kobe's location.
Kobe has an extensive transportation networkthat allows convenient access to Umicore scustomers. The city is blessed with research
institutes and universities, oﬀering a richenvironment for exchanges between local andoverseas researchers. Moreover, Kobe is acosmopolitan port town open to international
companies and foreigners. Besides the excellent
infrastructure the city also has a large pool of welleducated human resources and enjoys a richquality of life. The substantial support Umicore
received from the local government was one of
the important factors in the selection of Kobe.
This selection provided Umicore with a majoradvantage: it was able to secure an extensive sitethat would enable expanding the business in thefuture to quickly respond to market demand.

Further growth from the city of Kobe
and Hyogo Prefecture.
Japan, a country that is committed to becoming
a leader in the green economy and which has
created a favorable environment for promoting
inward investment, is the third largest economy
in the world. Many of the world s leading
companies in the battery industry are Japanesecompanies. Materials technology companies
such as Umicore gain great opportunities andbeneﬁts both in the domestic and export
markets by entering Japan.
Kobe is important for Umicore due to its
proximity to its current and future customers,
and for the concentration of advanced technicalexpertise in the neighboring area. Based on the
beneﬁcial relationship with the city of Kobe andHyogo Prefecture, the company wishes to further
increase its presence in this area.

http://www.hyogo-kobe.jp

Umicore Japan K.K., Kobe Plant

Location: 4-2-8 Minatojima-minami-machi, Chuo-ku,
Kobe City
Site area: 20,723 ㎡Surface area: 3,693 ㎡
Objective: Factory for cathode material and atechnical center
Products: Cathode material for NMC(nickel, manganese, and cobalt)
Employees: Approx. 40 (full production)

Umicore Japan K.K.

Head Oﬃce: 1-2-3 Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative Director and President: Luc Gellens
Year of establishment: 2002
Employees: 90

February
201211

The concentration of next-generation energy-related industries
has been advanced in the Kansai area,
mainly in Hyogo-Kobe
With the convenience of a metropolitan area and a traﬃc network open to the world, thecity of Kobe and Hyogo Prefecture have attracted attention as a hub for oﬃces,
production centers and physical distribution bases. In the Kansai region, in which
Hyogo-Kobe is located, the concentration of next-generation energy-related industries,
such as lithium-ion batteries (Kansai holds over 80 percent share of the domestic market)
and photovoltaic panels (same as over 70 percent share), is currently advancing. Here, we
explore the backdrop to the great vitality of the communities in the Kansai area.
In recent years, the next-generation energy-related
facilities of various companies have concentrated
in the Kansai area, especially in Hyogo-Kobe. The
Osaka Bay coastal area, in particular, boasts a
concentration of production centers anddevelopment bases for lithium-ion batteries andsolar batteries, and is also called Battery Bay.
With many research institutes including those ofuniversities, this area has long been blessed withrich human resources in the research ﬁeld.
Also, the area has inherited the accumulated
expertise of the manufacturing industry from thetradition of the Hanshin Industrial Zone. Anothervaluable feature of this area is that, while
equipped with substantial traﬃc infrastructure
for all of its land, sea, and air routes, it still has
room to accommodate large factories that
intend to enter the area.
In 2011, Umicore, a Belgian material technology
company, established its production andresearch center for the materials of lithium-ion
batteries on Port Island in Kobe. Toyo Gosei, a

Next-generation energies now drawing attention
How should we strike a balance between theglobal environment and economic activity when
we are constrained by a limited amount ofresources? This question has never been asked
as strongly as it is today. Next-generationenergies are expected to be recyclable and havea low global environmental load as an alternative
to conventional energies, such as petroleum. It isalso important to reﬁne technologies for theeﬃcient use of acquired energies, in addition toseeking new energy sources in solar light, wind
power and biomass. The development of thesecondary battery ﬁeld (storage-type batteries),
which has realized the miniaturization of mobiledevices and the commercial use of eco-cars, isalso indispensable for the practical use of newenergies and will play an important part in therealization of lean power networks (smart grid).

Why Kansai?

Examples of next-generation energy-related facilities in the Kansai area
●Solar battery●Lithium-ion battery●Smart grid
●Biomass

The market for next-generation energy-relatedindustries, such as secondary batteries, isexpected to increasingly expand in the future.
Even amid stiﬀ competition, the vitality ofcommunities in the Kansai region continue to beenhanced by the sustainable ﬂow of businessadvances from companies that are attracted tothe existing companies in the area. Hyogo-Kobe,
forming the core, will continue to provide supportand act as a stage for business advancement forcompanies seeking their own development.

1 Umicore Japan K.K. Kobe Plant

Itami Works (Currently implementing

20SHIGAC

1110915 8

12171813 14

Kansai Technology Center (tentative)

15 Sanyo Energy Nandan Co., Ltd.

（in full operation since April 2012)

Panasonic Group
16 Fujipream Corp.

Suminoe Plant
5 Sharp Corporation Sakai Plant

愛知

7 Energy Company of Panasonic Group

Nishikinohama Plant

NARAKusatsu Plant

4 Energy Company of Panasonic Group

Panasonic GroupMIERitto Plant
14 Lithium Energy Japan

6 Sanyo Energy Kaizuka Co., Ltd.

234B
57 OSAKA
61Kyoto Plant
13 Lithium Energy Japandemonstration)岐阜

3 TÜV Rheinland Japan Ltd.

KYOTOKAGAWA

Increasing demand in the future

2 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

HYOGO
A 16

chemical product manufacturer, branched out
onto a coastal area of Awaji Island facing Osaka
Bay, and has since produced electrolytic solution,
which is indispensable in the production oflithium-ion batteries. Both companies havementioned the facts that their client battery
makers are located in the surrounding areas, andthat they were able to secure a suﬃcient amountof space, as major reasons for their advancement.

8 Energy Company of Panasonic Group

Sumoto Plant

Harima Technopolis Kouto Factory
17 Kyocera Corp.

Shiga Yasu Plant
18 Kyocera Corp.

Shiga Yokaichi Plant
19 Energy Company of Panasonic Group

Tokushima Plant
20 Kaneka Solartech Corporation

9 Toyo Gosei Co., Ltd. Awaji Factory（To be in operation in 2012）
10 Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.

19Technical Institute

TOKUSHIMA

11 Energy Company of Panasonic Group

Kasai Plant

WAKAYAMA* Prepared based on various types of public information

12 Lithium Energy Japan

http://www.hyogo-kobe.jp

A Harima Science Garden City
B Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster,Computer KC

Saito Life Science Park