Climate Changed
Tesla's Needs Transformed This Obscure Japanese Chemical Company
- Stella Chemifa’s shares have more than doubled in two years
- China’s clean car policy is a boon to battery materials makers
Tesla Motor Inc. associates work on the Model S electric car at the company's factory in Fremont, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
When Elon Musk last May announced he was speeding up his grand plan to produce 500,000 electric cars per year, shares of a little-known Osaka-based chemical maker jumped more than 33 percent in four days.
One of the world’s few producers of the ultra-pure lithium salts used in high-end batteries, Stella Chemifa Corp.’s shares more than doubled in the last two years as Tesla Inc.’s ambitions grew and China tried to cut its greenhouse emissions with plans to put millions of cars on the road that use little or no gasoline.