Asahi Kasei will push back the start-up of its Canada battery materials plant to 2029 or later after Honda Motor deferred its Ontario EV plans, Nikkei Asia has reported.

The Japanese materials supplier is building the facility in Ontario to make battery separators, a core component used in lithium-ion batteries.

Asahi Kasei unveiled the project in April 2024, with operations initially targeted for mid-2027.

The plant was designed to have an annual production capacity of about 700 million square meters -- equivalent to batteries for about one million EVs.

Honda holds a 25% stake in the project.

Honda’s timetable shift has affected demand assumptions for the plant. In May last year, Honda said it would put back the start of operations at its proposed Ontario EV plant by two years, moving the schedule out from 2028.

Nikkei Asia also reported that demand from other customers has weakened because of the EV slowdown.

Against this backdrop, Asahi Kasei concluded it would be difficult to launch the separators plant as previously scheduled in 2027.

The company has lowered its North American EV market forecast for 2030 to about two million vehicles, down from eight million, and plans to adjust supply operations to match the slower ramp-up.

For now, Asahi Kasei plans to supply the North American market by exporting separators from Japan.

It is also seeking to build demand tied to the expanding market for artificial intelligence data centres in an effort to bring the Canadian plant online sooner.

Separately, a coating facility in the US is still expected to begin operations in the first half of fiscal 2026, in line with the original plan.