Theo Loock
Metair hopes to commission its first lithium-ion (li-ion) battery production line on November 5, says MD Theo Loock.
Metair is an international manufacturer, distributor and retailer of energy storage solutions and automotive components.
Li-ion batteries are used in electric vehicles, for example.
The development work for the R80-million investment was done at Prime Batteries (a Metair partner company), but with Metair subsidiary, Rombat, in Romania, hosting the production line at a new facility in Bucharest.
The first cells from the production line would be used in niche applications, such as the conversion of buses and ferries to more environment friendly power trains, as is increasingly demanded in European markets. The focus would also be on converting vintage cars hired in Europe to greener drive trains, explained Loock to Engineering News Online on Wednesday as he announced Metair’s results for six months ended June 30.
Loock said Metair was also talking to a number of vehicle manufacturers to change the starter batteries in vehicles powered by internal combustion engines to li-ion batteries.
Metair has already completed the development of its first li-ion starter battery, operational at –28 ˚C.
He said Metair aspired to become a significant player in the li-ion market, in addition to retaining its lead-acid technology edge.
This means that Metair has to move from energy storage to energy solutions.
It will also require Metair securing commitments from vehicle manufacturers for li-ion batteries; securing access to li-ion technology and resources; organically growing the li-ion production scale in order to compete on cost, while also growing and maintaining lead-acid relevance in a number of selected markets.
Loock said li-ion cells sold at ten times the price of lead-acid cells, which could hold significant earnings potential for Metair should it be able to convert a third of its battery supply to li-ion.
The Numbers
Metair announced stellar results for the first half of the financial year, with revenue up 19%, to R5.3-billion, compared with the six-month period ended June 30, 2018.
Operating profit was up 21%, to R499-million.
Loock said the numbers were the result of “value-up and volume-up” within the Metair business.
The energy storage vertical showed a 16% improvement in operating profit, to R289-million. The automotive components vertical also reported a 16% jump, to R302-million.
Loock said Metair would face a period of intensive capital investment from now to 2022, as all of the South African produced vehicle models Metair supplied with parts, would change to new models.
He emphasised that responsible wage negotiations in the auto assembly arena, currently underway, would assist with providing stability during this transition period, especially if the industry could seal another three-year deal.
Auto assembly wage talks will be followed by wage talks in the auto component sector.
Loock said the industry was prepared for a labour interruption of between five days and two weeks, and not the six weeks seen six years ago.