莊信萬(wàn)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(wàn)豐的業(yè)務(wù)集中在磷酸鐵鋰正極材料，在過(guò)去幾個(gè)月，其開(kāi)始擴(kuò)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(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手是優(yōu)美科，巴斯夫和日亞化學(xué)。

英國(guó)金融時(shí)報(bào)10月17日發(fā)布文章稱，莊信萬(wàn)豐(Johnson Matthey)預(yù)計(jì)其電池部門今年將首次盈利，同時(shí)，瞄準(zhǔn)于電動(dòng)汽車巨大的市場(chǎng)，這家國(guó)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(wàn)豐的電池業(yè)務(wù)集中在磷酸鐵鋰正極材料領(lǐng)域，在過(guò)去幾個(gè)月，莊信萬(wàn)豐開(kāi)始擴(kuò)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(shí)上，早于2014年，莊信萬(wàn)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(wàn)美元收購(gòu)了萬(wàn)向A123在中國(guó)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(wàn)豐又以7500萬(wàn)美元從瑞士特種化學(xué)品公司Clariant 手中收購(gòu)其能源存儲(chǔ)事業(yè)部，包括加拿大魁北克的生產(chǎn)工廠(原Phostech)、德國(guó)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(wàn)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(biāo)是在這個(gè)市場(chǎng)扮演重要的角色。”

事實(shí)上，莊信萬(wàn)豐的雄心背后也反映出了全球電動(dòng)車領(lǐng)域的快速發(fā)展。純電動(dòng)汽車和插電式混合動(dòng)力汽車目前僅占全球汽車銷量的不到1%，但分析師預(yù)計(jì)在2020年將超過(guò)傳統(tǒng)內(nèi)燃機(jī)汽車。

與此同時(shí)，特斯拉與其松下正在內(nèi)華達(dá)州投資高達(dá)50億美元的電池“超級(jí)工廠”，這將大幅降低成本，因?yàn)樗鼫?zhǔn)備在2018年開(kāi)始生產(chǎn)Model 3電動(dòng)車。

莊信萬(wàn)豐(JM)的市值目前為67億英鎊，自2012年以來(lái)，其在電池領(lǐng)域的相關(guān)收購(gòu)?fù)度氤^(guò)1億英鎊。去年，該部門的營(yíng)業(yè)額增長(zhǎng)了一半以上，達(dá)到1.3億英鎊。其在這一領(lǐng)域的主要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)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(wàn)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(jué)，其正在準(zhǔn)備終端市場(chǎng)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(wàn)豐目前最大的收益來(lái)源是汽車催化劑業(yè)務(wù)。MacLeod判斷指出，由于歐美國(guó)家更嚴(yán)格的政策法規(guī)，預(yù)計(jì)汽車催化劑的市場(chǎng)還有至少10年的增長(zhǎng)期。而再往后看的話，隨著中國(guó)加大在汽車排放領(lǐng)域的管控，汽車催化劑的市場(chǎng)同樣還有很大的空間。

投資者希望電池部門獲得比莊信萬(wàn)豐集團(tuán)旗下燃料電池業(yè)務(wù)更好的發(fā)展。事實(shí)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(jiàn)起色，去年燃料電池業(yè)務(wù)遭受損失。

Lux Research的能源存儲(chǔ)專家Tim Grejtak表示，隨著供應(yīng)鏈的不斷成熟，過(guò)去幾年阻礙電動(dòng)汽車發(fā)展的電池成本在下降，這將加速市場(chǎng)的普及。他認(rèn)為，作為正極材料開(kāi)發(fā)商，莊信萬(wàn)豐具有非常強(qiáng)的材料背景，因此將在未來(lái)電池材料領(lǐng)域占據(jù)自己的獨(dú)特地位。

附金融時(shí)報(bào)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.”