Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/10
By: Pan Chih-yi and Ko Lin
Taipei, May 10 (CNA) State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp. could do a lot to support local industries by helping secure minerals from overseas markets, Taiwanese business executives and academics said Thursday.
Speaking during the CPC Future Smart Energy forum, Mechema Chemicals International Corp President Yen Lung-tsai (嚴隆財) said CPC could land purchase agreements with suppliers overseas to facilitate stable supply of minerals for battery makers in Taiwan.
Due to the relatively small market, much of the materials, including cobalt and nickel, for making lithium cobalt batteries, need to be imported by businesses themselves, and at a steep price tag, Yen said.
Based out of Taoyuan, Mechema has for the last decade been involved in the manufacture of lithium batteries and has since become one of the country’s major battery suppliers for electric vehicles. [FULL STORY]