Japanese-owned battery parts plant built in Pest county

On the afternoon of 13 May, the Nippon Paper Chemicals Europe plant was inaugurated in Vácrátót. At the event it was revealed:

The chemicals division of the Japanese company has built its battery parts factory in the settlement as part of a greenfield investment worth around HUF 15 billion, for which the state provided HUF 2.3 billion in subsidies. Sixty new jobs were created in the first phase.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó highlighted that the company, which employs more than 15,000 people worldwide, plays an important role in the green technology revolution in the automotive industry, in which Hungary is leading the way, as the number of electric cars registered in Hungary has increased tenfold in five years, and significant production capacities have been created.

Cellulose-based battery technology

The plant, located in the capital's agglomeration, is expected to generate approximately €50 million in revenue and cover an area of 8,000 square metres, according to Nemzeti Befektetési Ügynökség (HIPA), even at the time of the investment announcement press release.

It also describes:

The function of the plant is the production of CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose), which is used for lithium-ion battery anodes in electric vehicles.

CMC is a natural material derived from the world's largest accumulation of biomass, cellulose, and is therefore very environmentally friendly, they stressed.

Due to its properties, CMC is widely used as an additive in the food and cosmetics industry and in industrial manufacturing media, such as paper production. However, through its proprietary development by Nippon Paper, CMC is also used as a high-end additive in the lithium-ion battery anode surface treatment process.