By Sam Nussey and Ritsuko Shimizu
Tokyo (Reuters) – Japan's chemical company, Zeon, aims to decide by the summer whether to move forward with plans he gave back to expanding production in the United States, his CEO said.
Zeon in January frozen plans to expand capacity in Texas for the production of binders used in lithium-ion batteries.
The company was uncertain over the prospects for the electric vehicle market following the election of President Donald Trump.
Zeon, a supplier of tire manufacturers, TVs and batteries, sees a business opportunity in US manufacturing but also posed a risk, says its CEO.
“Investment uncertainty is increasing with volatility in American society, regulation and other factors,” Tetsuya Toyoshima said in an interview.
“However, in the middle to long term, given the growth of batteries, I feel that the current situation should be seen as an opportunity. But things are changing day by day,” he said.
Texas investment would be a total of 10 billion yen ($ 70.52 million).
Trump's sweeping tariffs have sent shock waves through the world -wide supply chains and intimidating economic decline.
“We can only see the tip of the iceberg and, without knowing how big this iceberg is, there's a feeling of fear,” Toyoshima said.
The company holds cash buffer and tries not to hold inventory, he said.
Customers have been pulling on orders to the United States to build inventory, Toyoshima said.
Zeon sells optical film to television manufacturers in China so he could see an impact if TV sales to the United States were collapsing, he said.
The first Japanese company to produce Mass produces synthetic rubber, Zeon is investing 70 billion yen in a new factory in Yamaguchi prefecture in West Japan.
The plant will make specialized plastics as it targets demand from the life science and semi -conductors sectors.
($ 1 = 141.8100 Yen)
(Reported by Sam Nussey and Ritsuko Shimizu; edited by Christopher Cushing)