China's XTC, GEM to strengthen CAM precursor deal
China's largest lithium-ion battery cathode active material
(CAM) manufacturer XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen) has signed a supply
agreement with major CAM precursor producer Green Eco-Manufacture's (GEM)
wholly-owned subsidiary Jingmen GEM to strengthen cooperation on CAM precursor
supplies.
XTC New Energy will purchase 5,000-15,000 t/yr of cobalt
tetroxide and 15,000-35,000 t/yr of lithium nickel-cobalt-manganese oxide (NCM)
precursors from Jingmen GEM until the end of 2023. The two firms had established
a long-term partnership in CAM precursor supplies before this deal was
announced.
XTC New Energy went public on the Science and Technology
Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 5 August to raise 1.5bn yuan
($232mn) to finance its construction of a NCM facility in Xiamen in southeast
China's Fujian province with capacity of 20,000 t/yr, which will lift the
firm's NCM capacity from 30,000 t/yr to 50,000 t/yr.
The firm was formerly the battery materials division of
Xiamen Tungsten, which started research and development of lithium-ion battery
cathode materials in 2004. XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen) was incorporated
in December 2016 and has operated independently since then, becoming a
subsidiary of XTC which researches, develops, produces and sells lithium-ion
battery cathode materials with lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) and NCM as its key
products.
XTC New Energy reported an output of 33,750t for LCO and
16,113t for NCM in 2020, accounting for 42.8pc and 7.5pc of domestic total
production. Its LCO and NCM sales increased by 71.7pc and 126.1pc respectively
on the year during January-June.
It has partnerships with major battery firms domestically
and overseas including ATL, Samsung SDI, Murata, LGC, Sunwoda, Zhuhai Guanyu
and BYD. Products from XTC New Energy are used in the downstream mid- and
high-end computer, communication and consumer electronics. It also has
long-term partnerships with power lithium battery manufacturers including
Panasonic, BYD, CATL, Avic lithium, EVE Energy and Gotion High-tech.
It and Chinese largest CAM precursor producer CNGR Advanced
Material on 14 September signed a strategic framework deal to buy 20,000-25,000
t/yr of cobalt tetroxide and 15,000-35,000 t/yr of NCM precursors until the end
of 2023.
XTC New Energy plans to build a production complex for
lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and NCM in Ya'an city in southwest China's Sichuan
province to keep pace with the rapidly growing lithium-ion and electric vehicle
(EV) industries.
GEM has an industrial chain from cobalt salts to lithium-ion
cathode materials, as well as cobalt metal and powder. The firm's key products
include NCM ternary precursors, cobalt tetroxide, cobalt powder and cobalt
metal, with a capacity of 16,000 t/yr for cobalt tetroxide and 3,000 t/yr for cobalt
metal. It also produces NCM and lithium cobalt oxide. In addition, GEM is on
track to add LFP and LFP precursors to its product portfolio because of its
bullish outlook on the future development of these products.
GEM's NCM precursor shipments rose by 190pc from a year
earlier to over 42,000t in January-June, including 15,000t sold to the overseas
market, up by 110pc on the year. It is on track to sell 90,000-100,000t of NCM
precursors this year because of buoyant demand from downstream industries. It
is also projected to expand its NCM precursor capacity to 200,000 t/yr by the
end of this year. It aims to further raise its output and sales to 400,000 t/yr
each by 2025, to meet rising demand from the expanding EV market.
Its shipments of cobalt tetroxide totalled nearly 8,500t
during January-June, up by 41.7pc on the year, with 4,900t of combined lithium
cobalt oxide and NCM. The firm sold 2,227t of cobalt powder, up by 65pc over
the same period.
It unveiled a plan in June to build new production
facilities for cobalt and nickel salts, with 33,000 t/yr of capacity for cobalt
sulphate, 33,000 t/yr for cobalt chloride and 33,000 t/yr for nickel sulphate,
in Jingmen city in central China's Hubei province.
GEM signed an initial deal in October to extend supplies of
lithium battery ternary precursors to South Korean battery cathode material
producer Ecopro BM to supply 650,000t of high nickel NCM/NCA ternary precursors
over 2024-26, following on from an April agreement for GEM to supply materials
to Ecopro BM during 2021-23.
GEM mainly purchases feedstock from Switzerland-based
trading and mining firm Glencore through long-term contracts. It has invested
in a high-pressure acid leaching project in Indonesia to produce mixed
nickel-cobalt hydroxide precipitate, in partnership with NCM precursor and NCM
manufacturer Brunp and domestic steel producer Tsingshan. The project is
scheduled to launch in next year's first quarter with 50,000 t/yr of nickel
metal equivalent and 5,000 t/yr of cobalt metal equivalent. GEM also recycles
cobalt/nickel/lithium scrap into raw materials.
Comments
Post a Comment