Nippon Shokubai (TYO:4114) has revised its new plant construction plan for IONELTM, a lithium-ion battery electrolyte, increasing the investment amount to 43 billion yen from 37.5 billion yen previously.

Construction of the plant, which has an annual production capacity of 3000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery electrolyte, started in January this year.

The commencement of commercial operations has been pushed back from July 2028 to December 2028, primarily due to delays in land acquisition, according to a Tokyo bourse filing.

The higher investment costs are attributed to rising prices of petroleum-related products and copper, yen depreciation, and increased construction demand in western Japan.

The plant, located at the Kitakyushu Plant site with an annual production capacity of 3,000 tons and roughly 50 employees, remains eligible for a government subsidy of up to 12.5 billion yen.