–Loan will be used to expand business for IONEL, an electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries–

NIPPON SHOKUBAI CO., LTD. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan, President: Kazuhiro Noda, hereinafter “Nippon Shokubai”) received the highest rating in the DBJ Environmentally Rated Loan Program^*1 operated by Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ). This is the fourth consecutive time Nippon Shokubai has been awarded the highest rating, which is given to companies with “excellent advanced environmental initiatives,” after getting top marks in 2008, 2012, and 2017.
This time we received a loan under DBJ’s new KPI-based environmentally rated loan program. The program is uniquely designed to support companies implementing initiatives aimed at solving social problems and increasing their corporate value simultaneously.
Nippon Shokubai will use the funds to expand its IONEL™ business. One of the company’s environmentally responsible products, IONEL™ is an electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries (a material designed to solve various problems with lithium-ion batteries).

Under the KPI-based environmentally rated loan program, the terms and conditions of the loan are based on the progress made towards achieving the numerical target set in the Nippon Shokubai Group’s “TechnoAmenity for the future-I” mid-term management plan. The plan aims for 55 billion yen in environmental contribution product sales by fiscal 2024.
In the latest rating, Nippon Shokubai earned high marks for the following aspects.

1. The company makes group-wide environmental management efforts that are consistent with its overall management strategy. It uses the environmental management system covering its operations, including domestic and overseas production subsidiaries, to set targets linked to its mid-term management plan, based on the medium- and long-term growth strategies developed by the TechnoAmenity Promotion Committee headed by the company president.
2. The company certifies products as environmentally friendly in light of an internal review board’s assessments looking at how much the environmental footprint is reduced throughout the product lifecycle. It then sets medium- to long-term targets for boosting sales of these products. The company also focuses on solving issues facing the world via its products and services by calculating their positive environmental impact and visualizing their environmental value.
3. The company has spelled out its long-term vision up to 2030 in its “TechnoAmenity for the future.” It sees portfolio transformation as a concrete way to realize that vision and is accelerating R&D aimed at creating new value for society, such as expanding the use of hydrogen and the capture of CO₂.

The company will use this loan to fuel growth of its IONEL™ business. Nippon Shokubai’s IONEL™ is the world’s first commercialized lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) salt. Although degradation at high temperatures and a loss of performance at low temperatures are typical problems seen in lithium-ion batteries, IONEL™ can improve that performance over a wide temperature range and extend battery life. In recent years, IONEL™ is more and more highlighted as a material able to overcome the issues seen in the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs), which are quickly becoming commonplace.
Nippon Shokubai is working on acquiring major customers and promoting early establishment of a cost-competitive manufacturing and sales structure in China, the world’s largest market for automotive lithium-ion batteries. Our capital participation^*2 in Hunan Fluopont New Materials Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Shenzhen Capchem Technology Co., Ltd., a major electrolyte manufacturer), which we agreed on in last September, has been completed and we are currently discussing the expansion of our facilities.

The Nippon Shokubai Group is propelling the three transformations outlined in its long-term vision, “TechnoAmenity for the future”: business transformation, strategic transformation for environmental initiatives, and organizational transformation. Nippon Shokubai views the various social issues towards a greener future as new business opportunities. The company aims to achieve further growth through IONEL™ as well as its other products and technologies that demonstrate its strengths as it actively contributes to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and building a sustainable society.

<More about Nippon Shokubai’s environmentally friendly products>
Development and Expansion of Environmental Contribution Products

*1  The DBJ Environmentally Rated Loan Program is the world’s first financing menu to select outstanding companies by evaluating their environmental management by means of the environmental rating method developed by DBJ.
*2 For more information, see the press release dated September 12, 2022, “Investment in a Manufacturer of Lithium Salt as the Electrolyte for Lithium-ion Battery in China.”

Nippon Shokubai gets top DBJ Environmentally Rated Loan Program score for 4th time in a row –Loan will be used to expand business for IONEL, an electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries–