China’s Geely to Build Power Battery Plant in Ganzhou

Chinese automotive manufacturer Geely will build a 42 GWh/yr power battery facility in Ganzhou city in south China's Jiangxi province.

The first phase of the 30bn yuan ($4.6bn) project is designed to have a capacity of 12 GWh/yr, although other details such as the construction schedule and plans for the remaining phases were undisclosed.

Geely has been expanding its presence in the new energy vehicle (NEV) market. The firm earlier this month set up joint venture Jidu with internet integrated services firm Baidu to develop the NEV market.

Ganzhou is one of China's major lithium production hubs. It is also where Chinese major lithium producer Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium's production base is located.

Argus assessed prices for 99.5pc grade lithium carbonate, a major battery material, at Yn80,000-85,000/t ex-works today, the highest level since October 2018. Producers are holding offer prices towards the upper end of the range and ramping up output to meet higher demand from power battery producers.

Prices for 99.8pc grade cobalt metal were assessed at Yn390-400/kg ex-works on 11 March, unchanged from 9 March. Large producers mainly focused on fulfilling orders and consumers enquired only for small volumes for delivery after this month.