Avocet Battery Materials – ABM announce partnership with the world’s largest lead tab manufacturer NexPO.
Avocet Battery Materials (ABM) announce a partnership through the signing of an MOU with Korean tab manufacturing company NexPO. ABM are a leading battery materials manufacturer located in the UK, servicing EU and US markets with high performance lead tabs for niche applications such as aviation, defence and motorsport.
NexPO, whose shareholders include a global battery manufacturer, are one of the largest lead tab producers in the world with factories located in South Korea and China.
This partnership marks a significant milestone for ABM as it enables the expansion of their capacity through OEM production of lead tabs to service large battery customers located in EU and US regions. In addition, details of the MOU state both companies will establish a manufacturing facility in Europe.
Kieren Hall, CEO of ABM, expresses his excitement about the collaboration, stating:
NexPO and their shareholders are major brands in the battery industry and have considerable experience in this market.
“Due to NexPO’s existing 500m+ tab capacity, ABM now enjoy the immediate capability to service high volume orders for our customers. Together with NexPO, our joint vision for our manufacturing facility is to create sustainable net zero tabs within the European market.”
Younsik Kim, Vice President of NexPO, acknowledges ABM’s forward-thinking approach, emphasising the focus on sustainability and localising operations in the European and US battery tab markets.
Younsik Kim, Vice President of NexPO, said:
We recognise ABM’s foresight that the future of the European and US battery tab markets must be focused on sustainability and localisation.
“With ABM’s strong customer relationships, together we are perfectly positioned to serve emergent European and US cell manufacturers.”
The European battery market is expected to surpass 700 GWh by 2030 with a requirement for +500M of lead tabs per year. Lead tabs are used in the manufacture of lithium-ion pouch cells provide the connection between multiple layers of current collector plates and the external target source. Currently ABM are the sole producer of this product in Europe with a capacity of 1.5M sets per year.
With the drive towards localisation across the full battery value chain, this partnership represents a significant step forward to create high volume tab manufacturing within the EU to support this emerging market. Consequently, battery manufacturers now have the opportunity to type approve the ABM product confident in the knowledge that sufficient volumes will be immediately available to meet their needs.
READ the latest Batteries News shaping the battery market
ABM announce partnership with the world’s largest lead tab manufacturer NexPO, January 11, 2024
