Elon Musk's battery demand boom lifts Japan supplier Tanaka

Tokyo

AS Elon Musk pushes out from his California base to make electric vehicles ubiquitous, a company halfway around the world and deep in the depths of the battery supply chain is riding his wake.

Tanaka Chemical Corp, which has a long history in developing battery materials, says it's boosting output to meet surging demand for its materials for making cathodes. The Fukui, Japan-based company, which has slightly more than 180 employees, plans to invest 500 million yen (S$6.21 million) to boost output capacity by about 1,000 tonnes a year.

While a relatively small investment, the new money flowing into battery components from Tanaka could be a precursor to even more spending from…