Steve,
Here is some info to get you started. I did not include my holdings in this post but this will get you going in the right direction. (see note at the end)
General Sources of Information
sri.com:80/
www-mpl.sri.com[topics]batteries.html
pmi.princeton.edu
electrochem.org
www-dmse.mit.edu
General Lithium related Companies (Providers/Processers/Distributors/etc.)
Cyprus Foote Mineral Co. -- Kings Mountain, NC
CM Chemical Products, Inc. -- Berkeley Heights, NJ
Belmont Metals, Inc. -- Brooklyn, NY
Alloys International, Inc. -- Central Islip, NY
GFS Chemicals, Inc. -- Powell, OH
Aremco Products, Inc. -- Ossining, NY
Goodfellow Corp. -- Berwyn, PA
M. Braun, Inc. -- Peabody, MA
Surepure Chemetals, Inc. -- Florham Park, NJ
All-Chemie, Ltd. -- Mount Pleasant, SC
Pure Tech, Inc. -- Carmel, NY
Super Conductor Materials, Inc. -- Suffern, NY
Inert Systems, Inc. -- Modesto, CA
Alfa Chemical Corp. -- Central Islip, NY
Nichem Co. -- Fairfield, NJ
O.M.G.-OM Group, Inc. -- Cleveland, OH
Leico Industries, Inc. -- New York, NY
Research & PVD Materials Corp. -- Wayne, NJ
Arch City Steel & Alloy, Inc. -- Ballwin, MO
Cerac, Inc. -- Milwaukee, WI
Atomergic Chemetals Corp. -- Farmingdale, NY
Alfa Aesar Johnson Matthey -- Ward Hill, MA
Barium & Chemicals, Inc. -- Steubenville, OH
Great Western Inorganics -- Golden, CO
Electronic Space Products International -- Ashland, OR
Alloys International, Inc. -- Central Islip, NY
Goodfellow Corp. -- Berwyn, PA
Surepure Chemetals, Inc. -- Florham Park, NJ
All-Chemie, Ltd. -- Mount Pleasant, SC
Alfa Chemical Corp. -- Central Islip, NY
Leico Industries, Inc. -- New York, NY
Research & PVD Materials Corp. -- Wayne, NJ
Alfa Aesar Johnson Matthey -- Ward Hill, MA
To answer your question, the major providers of the processed raw materials for lithium batteries are as you guessed Japanese. One of the largest recently announced that they were going to triple production next year. There are alot of ways to play this industry including battery management devices, holders, processors, distributors, laminates, foils, polymers, etc.
One of the largest public suppliers of Nickel to the energy industry is: INCO LTD it supplies about 30 percent of the Western world's nickel (might be interesting given your interest in ENER). BTW, They also supply Colbalt. One of the largest suppliers of Zinc and Lead is COMINCO LTD. Most of the Japanese suppliers to the lithium battery industry are not pure plays but I think this will be enough info to get you started. |
