Battery

Johnson Matthey announces intention to exit battery materials business

Company has decided to pursue the sale of all or parts of this business with the ultimate intention of exiting

Johnson Matthey has been working to commercialise its range of high nickel cathode materials, principally for the automotive industry.

Following a detailed review and ahead of reaching a number of critical investment milestones, we have concluded that the potential returns from our Battery Materials business will not be adequate to justify further investment.

Whilst demand for battery materials is accelerating, so is competition from alternative technologies and other manufacturers. Consequently this is rapidly turning into a high volume, commoditised market.

In recent months, as JM has been exploring strategic partnerships, it has also become clear that our capital intensity is too high compared with other more established large scale, low cost producers.

The Board has therefore decided to pursue the sale of all or parts of this business with the ultimate intention of exiting. We will move swiftly to determine the best outcome for all of our stakeholders and intend to make a further announcement as soon as possible.

JM is making good progress in its other growth areas, such as in hydrogen technologies, circularity and the decarbonisation of the chemicals value chain. These are attractive opportunities which we will now accelerate with greater focus and investment. In addition, in a world that increasingly needs solutions to address the challenges faced by climate change, we will continue to pursue opportunities across other areas that are closely aligned to our core capabilities.

Robert MacLeod, Chief Executive said, “While the testing of our eLNO battery materials with customers is going well, the marketplace is rapidly evolving with increasing commoditisation and lower returns. We have concluded that we will not achieve the returns necessary to justify further investment.

“This decision will allow us to accelerate our investment and focus on more attractive growth areas, especially where we have leadership positions such as in hydrogen technologies, circularity and the decarbonisation of the chemicals value chain.”