On March 27, Wu Yu announced that he would suspend China's plan to increase production of EV battery materials (PVDF resin), mainly because it was difficult to export battery materials from China to the United States after the U.S. IRA law came into effect, and the company was expanding Japan's PVDF production capacity. According to his estimate, the production increase plan of Japanese factories is sufficient to meet current demand.
Wu Yu's existing factory in Changshu City, Jiangsu Province, China mainly produces PVDF for the Chinese and European markets. Wu Yu announced in July 2021 that he would invest 18 - 20 billion yen to build a new factory in Changshu City and increase the production of PVDF. The new factory is expected to start production in 2024.
It is understood that Wu Yu announced on August 22, 2023 that she would invest approximately 70 billion yen to strengthen polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) production capacity at the Iwaki plant in Fukushima, Japan. Wu Yu has expanded the PVDF production capacity of her Fukushima prefecture plant by 8000 tons/year, with an expected completion time of March 2026.
Wu Yu pointed out that PVDF can be used as a cathode binder for lithium-ion batteries. In recent years, due to the high awareness of environmental protection in various countries and the continuous expansion of demand for lithium-ion batteries for vehicles, customers have requested to further expand the supply of PVDF.
Wu Yu currently uses the Fukushima Iwaki plant and its Chinese subsidiary to produce PVDF, with annual production capacity of 6000 tons and 5000 tons respectively. After the above-mentioned new plant is introduced into mass production, Wu Yu's overall annual PVDF production capacity will increase compared with the current (11,000 tons). 70% to 19,000 tons.
Wu Yu said that it plans to further expand the annual production capacity of PVDF to an annual output of 30,000 - 40,000 tons in 2030. Source: Wu Yu