Canada, Japan agree to work more closely on battery supply chains

Canada and Japan on Thursday agreed to work more closely together to establishing sustainable and reliable global battery supply chains, the Canadian government said in a statement.

The two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation on the supply chains during a visit by Japanese Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, it said, but gave no details.

Canada, home to a large mining sector for minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, wants to woo firms involved in all levels of the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain via a multibillion-dollar green technology.

“As worldwide demand shifts increasingly towards cleaner forms of energy, Canada’s critical minerals resources and battery supply chains will play a vital role in how we get there,” said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

Earlier this month a unit of South Korea’s Solus Advanced Materials said it would will build a copper foil facility in the province of Quebec, producing technology for EV batteries.

(By David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)