Chinese lithium battery firm Beijing Easpring Material Technology has unveiled expansion plans— saying demand for electric vehicles has already outstripped its existing lithium-ion cathode material production capacity.
Beijing-based Easpring is now proposing to build a lithium-ion battery materials production base some 900 kilometres south in Jiangsu Province, with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons.
The new facility, the first of a proposed three-phase expansion project, would be built on the Jintan Jincheng Science and Technology Industrial Park for an investment of CNY3 billion ($500 million), according to an initial agreement with the park that requires formal approval by Easpring’s board.
Easpring said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange its existing capacity for the production of lithium battery cathode material “is about 16,000 tons” and it has already “achieved full-load production”.
Easpring said further expansion on the park was envisaged because “the scale of new production capacity still cannot fully meet future market demand”.
“With longer-range power batteries, the demand for high nickel multi-materials will further increase in the future market,” Easpring said.
“The construction of a new high-nickel multi-material industrial base will help the company grasp the opportunities for the development of new energy vehicles and consolidate. The market position promotes the rapid development of the company’s lithium battery business.”
Easpring was founded in 2001 and currently has more than 750 employees. The company said it has since invested in and has launched subsidiaries to “focus on developing the new-type of high-end lithium power new energy materials” for the domestic market.
