莊信萬豐(Johnson Matthey)是全球最大的有色金屬和貴金屬生產(chǎn)商，也是全球三大貴金屬催化劑生產(chǎn)商之一。

在電池領(lǐng)域，莊信萬豐的業(yè)務(wù)集中在磷酸鐵鋰正極材料，在過去幾個月，其開始擴展到其它正極材料領(lǐng)域，例如能量密度更高的含鎳材料。主要競爭對手是優(yōu)美科，巴斯夫和日亞化學(xué)。

英國金融時報10月17日發(fā)布文章稱，莊信萬豐(Johnson Matthey)預(yù)計其電池部門今年將首次盈利，同時，瞄準于電動汽車巨大的市場，這家國際汽車催化劑制造商正在加大在電池材料領(lǐng)域的布局。

莊信萬豐的電池業(yè)務(wù)集中在磷酸鐵鋰正極材料領(lǐng)域，在過去幾個月，莊信萬豐開始擴展到其它正極材料領(lǐng)域，例如能量密度更高的含鎳材料。

事實上，早于2014年，莊信萬豐就在電池材料領(lǐng)域做了一系列布局，2014年7月，JM就以2600萬美元收購了萬向A123在中國常州的LFP材料廠，該工廠的八十多名員工已經(jīng)并入JM的電池技術(shù)部。

當(dāng)年10月，莊信萬豐又以7500萬美元從瑞士特種化學(xué)品公司Clariant 手中收購其能源存儲事業(yè)部，包括加拿大魁北克的生產(chǎn)工廠(原Phostech)、德國Moosburg的研發(fā)和中試基地(原Süd-Chemie鋰電業(yè)務(wù)部)以及其擁有的客戶資源和所有相關(guān)專利。

莊信萬豐首席執(zhí)行官羅伯特·麥克勞德(Robert MacLeod)表示：“我明年很有信心，我們可以獲得電池業(yè)務(wù)盈虧平衡或小盈利。我們的目標是在這個市場扮演重要的角色。”

事實上，莊信萬豐的雄心背后也反映出了全球電動車領(lǐng)域的快速發(fā)展。純電動汽車和插電式混合動力汽車目前僅占全球汽車銷量的不到1%，但分析師預(yù)計在2020年將超過傳統(tǒng)內(nèi)燃機汽車。

與此同時，特斯拉與其松下正在內(nèi)華達州投資高達50億美元的電池“超級工廠”，這將大幅降低成本，因為它準備在2018年開始生產(chǎn)Model 3電動車。

莊信萬豐(JM)的市值目前為67億英鎊，自2012年以來，其在電池領(lǐng)域的相關(guān)收購?fù)度氤^1億英鎊。去年，該部門的營業(yè)額增長了一半以上，達到1.3億英鎊。其在這一領(lǐng)域的主要競爭對手是優(yōu)美科，巴斯夫和日亞化學(xué)。

雖然該部門只占莊信萬豐整體收入32億英鎊的一小部分，但它顯示了家成立于1817年的公司敏銳的商業(yè)嗅覺，其正在準備終端市場的轉(zhuǎn)變。

憑借涵蓋貴金屬，活性藥物成分和化學(xué)品工廠許可證的組合，莊信萬豐目前最大的收益來源是汽車催化劑業(yè)務(wù)。MacLeod判斷指出，由于歐美國家更嚴格的政策法規(guī)，預(yù)計汽車催化劑的市場還有至少10年的增長期。而再往后看的話，隨著中國加大在汽車排放領(lǐng)域的管控，汽車催化劑的市場同樣還有很大的空間。

投資者希望電池部門獲得比莊信萬豐集團旗下燃料電池業(yè)務(wù)更好的發(fā)展。事實上，盡管其燃料電池業(yè)務(wù)銷售額有所改善，但由于非汽車部門的需求不見起色，去年燃料電池業(yè)務(wù)遭受損失。

Lux Research的能源存儲專家Tim Grejtak表示，隨著供應(yīng)鏈的不斷成熟，過去幾年阻礙電動汽車發(fā)展的電池成本在下降，這將加速市場的普及。他認為，作為正極材料開發(fā)商，莊信萬豐具有非常強的材料背景，因此將在未來電池材料領(lǐng)域占據(jù)自己的獨特地位。

附金融時報原文：

Johnson Matthey positive on profit for battery division

Johnson Matthey expects its battery division to make a profit for the first time this year, as the biggest manufacturer of catalytic converters jockeys for position in the race to supply components for cars of the future.

The FTSE 100 chemicals group makes materials used in cells for the automotive industry, as well as batteries for electric bicycles and power tools.

So far it has focused on lithium iron phosphate cathodes, typically used for hybrid electric vehicles and buses.

But in the past few months it has expanded into other cathode materials, such as those containing nickel that can store more energy for a given weight, for lithium-ion batteries found more in all-electric passenger cars.

“I’m pretty confident within the next year or so we can get the [battery] business to break-even or small profitability,” said chief executive Robert MacLeod. “We aim to be a serious player in this market.”

The company’s ambition reflects the rapid developments in the domain of electric-powered vehicles.

Battery-only and plug-in hybrid cars represent less than 1 per cent of global car sales at present, but analysts expect they will overtake traditional internal combustion engine cars during the 2020s.

Tesla, with its partner Panasonic, is investing up to $5bn in a battery “giga-factory” in Nevada, which it says will bring down costs sharply, as it gears up to start production of its Model 3 sedan in 2018.

Johnson Matthey, which has a market value of ￡6.7bn, has spent more than ￡100m on battery technology acquisitions since 2012. Turnover at the division increased by more than half to ￡130m last year, largely as a result of acquisitions, though underlying growth was in the double digits. Its main competitors in this area are Umicore, BASF and Nichia.

While the unit makes up only a small fraction of overall adjusted revenues of ￡3.2bn, it shows how the company, established in 1817 as a gold assayer, is preparing for an eventual shift in its principal end-market. With a portfolio spanning precious metals, active pharmaceutical ingredients and licences for chemicals plants, Johnson Matthey’s biggest source of earnings is catalytic converters.

Even so, Mr MacLeod said he expected at least another decade of rising emissions-control equipment sales because of more stringent regulations.

“If I look forward 10 years we are going to see a greater proportion of our emission control business in China?…?because tighter [pollution] legislation’s coming there,” he said.

Investors will be hoping the battery venture yields better results than the group’s quest to commercialise fuel cells. Despite improved sales, with demand from non-automotive sectors, that business suffered a writedown last year.

Tim Grejtak, an energy storage expert at Lux Research, said costs for automotive batteries — one of the main hurdles to adoption, together with driving range — had fallen quickly in the last couple of years as supply chains matured.

He added: “As a cathode materials developer [Johnson Matthey] have a very strong materials background [and] are in a unique position to develop new lines of products for manufacturing lines.”