The Japanese are the leaders in battery tech development…...

The Japanese are the leaders in battery tech development… According to Mr Inoue of GS Yuasa, Li will still be a critical element in high density batteries (cathode side) for many years to come.

See ORE export shipments - i think 1/2 their off-take goes to customers in Japan.

FYI - Olaroz Lithium Facility began as a joint venture project built in partnership with Japanese trading giant Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("TTC") and the mining investment company owned by the provincial Government of Jujuy, Jujuy Energia y Mineria Sociedad del Estado ("JEMSE").

From this article posted in the bigger boat thread last week…
http://www.copyright link/business/energy/...-battery-market-20170307-gut27y#ixzz4gl5mtV5X

Since the 1980s battery production for the electronics industry has been dominated by companies in South Korea and Japan. But China has caught up. In 2013 it outpaced Korea as the world's largest supplier of lithium batteries for all electronic devices, according to Goldman. A year later that lead increased as China's electric vehicle market took off. In 2016, 507,000 battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold in China, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous 12 months.

While Panasonic is the world's largest supplier of electric vehicle batteries globally, China's BYD and CATL were just behind, according to figures collated by Bernstein, the research group.

"The Japanese invent it, the Koreans look to expand and build it out and the Chinese end up dominating it as that's where the market ultimately is," says Duncan Goodwin, head of global resources equities for fund manager Barings. "We are going to see a significant step up in manufacturing capacity driven by China and Chinese demand."