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Sept. 16 (Reuters) – XTC New Energy Materials, a unit of Chinese rare earth and metals producer Xiamen Tungsten (600549.SS), on Thursday announced plans to invest as much as 10 billion yuan (1.55 billion dollars) into a lithium battery. project in Sichuan province.
Demand for batteries is booming in the world’s largest automotive market, China, where sales of new energy vehicles jumped 182% year-on-year in August, sparking a wave of investment in new production capacity. ‘ingredients for batteries. Read more
XTC New Energy said in a filing that it signed a letter of intent with Yaan Economic and Technological Development Zone in Sichuan, southwest China, to build a plant that will eventually produce 100,000 tonnes of lithium iron phosphate and 60,000 tonnes of ternary materials per year.
Ternary refers to the combination of three metals used in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries, such as nickel, cobalt and manganese.
Yaan is already a lithium production base for Tesla supplier (TSLA.O) Yahua (002497.SZ), while Tianqi Lithium (002466.SZ) is also headquartered in Sichuan.
The 1.2 billion yuan first phase of the lithium iron phosphate component will have an annual output of 20,000 tons, XTC New Energy said, noting that it does not currently produce the material. Its commissioning is scheduled for 2023.
The first phase of the ternary materials component should come into service in 2024 and will also produce 20,000 tonnes per year. It will involve an investment of 2.2 billion yuan and will include a nickel and cobalt smelter of 10,000 tons per year for recycling batteries.
The timing of subsequent investments will be based on market conditions, XTC New Energy said, adding that a feasibility study has yet to be presented to its board of directors and bank loans would be taken out to finance the project.
XTC New Energy was previously the battery materials division of Xiamen Tungsten, its largest shareholder, but has been a fully-fledged company since 2016.
Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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