Chinese electric-vehicle battery maker Gotion High Tech Co Ltd said it would build two plants in southern China's Jiangxi province to produce a combined 100,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate.
Gotion, in which German automaker Volkswagen last year took a 26.5% stake, said the two plants will be built in the city of Yichu and the first phase of 20,000 tonnes per year of capacity at both sites will be put into production by the end of 2022.
The projects will be located in two separate industrial parks and each will have also a 30,000-tonnes-per-year second phase, Gotion said in a statement on Wednesday, adding work on the first phases will begin this quarter.
Its investment comes as prices for lithium carbonate , a chemical used in rechargeable batteries, are up around 75% year-to-date in China at 92,000 yuan ($14,234) per tonne on resurgent demand from the EV sector.
