Building bridges in China
China dominates the world’s battery production and refining of battery materials. This dominance is not just defined by scale but also the knowledge and expertise required to set up and run successful cell manufacturing operations.
To find out more about the opportunities in China, to plug into that know-how and to build on existing relationships, a team from Echion, including members of the senior management team, spent a productive 2 weeks in China in May. The trip was centred on exhibiting and speaking at the world’s biggest battery exhibition, the China International Battery Fair (CIBF), but also included many other customer and prospect meetings.
CIBF features over 1500 exhibitors and attracts over 150,000 visitors and is the premier battery event in the region. During the event, Echion engaged with over 150 contacts. These contacts allowed us to explain why niobium is an excellent option in specific battery applications and how we have developed our mixed niobium oxide anode material, XNO® to deliver twice the energy density of LTO. Our partnership with CBMM, the world’s largest producer and refiner of niobium was a key aspect of our presence at CIBF. This allowed visitors to not only discuss the details of XNO®’s performance but also Echion’s ability to supply material at scale to China.
Echion’s ability to meet the specific needs of industrial and off highway vehicles, such as mining trucks and autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs), was of great interest to visitors as this market is not well served by the technologies targeted at passenger cars. The combined benefits of XNO® give it a unique position and help to lessen the impact of the compromises that have been a necessary part of battery cell development. These attributes were well understood by the informed CIBF audience.
Outside of CIBF the Echion team visited customers involved in cell and equipment manufacture. Many of these meetings have progressed existing relationships with agreements signed, material for testing and trials ordered and future plans agreed.
Echion is committed to developing our presence in China and working with our business development agent, Intralink, to develop long term awareness and understanding of Echion and XNO®. We understand that many technology roadmaps are already set and that the development of relationships with customers and contacts in China will be crucial to our future growth. To achieve this, we will not only be visiting more often but will also be expanding the amount of technical content available on specific marketing channels in China to meet the demands of this advanced and knowledgeable marketplace.