Japan, Canada in talks over collaboration in battery metals supply chain

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan and Canada are discussing collaboration on building strong supply chains for battery metals, Japans industry minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, said on Tuesday.

A public-private mission led by Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and including 16 companies that work with batteries visited Canada last week for talks on building sustainable and resilient supply chains, he said.

“Canada has an abundance of battery metals and good market access to the United States,” Nishimura told a news conference.

“Canada is one of the most important countries for Japan when it comes to strengthening our supply chains of storage battery metals,” he said.

He declined to give details of the talks but said he would take various opportunities, including an upcoming G7 ministerial meeting, to reinforce cooperation with Canada.

As the chair of the Group of Seven nations (G7) this year, Japan will hold a ministerial meeting on climate, energy and environment in the city of Sapporo on April 15-16, ahead of a G7 summit in Hiroshima on May 19-21, to promote what it calls a realistic energy transition.

Batteries are key for Japan as it strives for carbon neutrality by 2050 as they are the most important technology in the electrification of automobiles and other devices and essential for boosting the adoption of renewable energy.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Robert Birsel)