Nishimura Yasutoshi, Japan’s economy and industry minister, spent last week crisscrossing southern Africa on a five-nation tour at the behest of his country’s auto industry that is looking for new supplies of the raw materials needed to power electric vehicles.
Japan, like South Korea, is looking to build a new EV battery supply chain free of Chinese suppliers in order to qualify for U.S. tax incentives that were a critical part of the Biden Administration’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act legislation.
That explains why Japanese ministers like Nishimura are now heading to Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Madagascar, among others, to sign mining deals to secure their own (non-Chinese) supplies of cobalt, nickel, and other metals needed for EV batteries.
But even though the Japanese government may be leading the way with these deals, Tokyo does not have state-owned mining companies like China does that it can direct to follow through with the needed investments.
So, while Japan, like the U.S. may want to reduce or even eliminate Chinese companies from its EV battery metal supply chains, it may take years or even decades to do.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Japan, South Korea and Western countries are all clearly motivated to rid China from the EV battery supply chain but that doesn’t mean they’ll actually be able to do it. Japan signing joint statements with the Zambia and DRC governments is not the same as actually building new mines and processing facilities.
SUGGESGTED READING:
- NHK: Japan’s industry minister seeks deeper ties with Congo on mineral exploration
- Nikkei Asia: Japan builds supply chain for EV battery minerals in Africa by Anna Niishino
