Zhejiang Hailiang Co., the world’s top producer of copper tubes and rods, plans to build a copper foil plant in Indonesia for 5.9 billion yuan ($850 million) amid its push into the electric-vehicle battery industry.
(Bloomberg) — Zhejiang Hailiang Co., the world’s top producer of copper tubes and rods, plans to build a copper foil plant in Indonesia for 5.9 billion yuan ($850 million) amid its push into the electric-vehicle battery industry.
The project will be developed in two phases to be completed in 2025 and 2027 respectively, the company — based in eastern China’s Zhejiang province — said in a filing to Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Each will have annual capacity of 50,000 tons of lithium-battery copper foil.
The announcement underscores Zhejiang Hailiang’s push to expand into new energy materials and tap into the markets of Europe, the US and Southeast Asia, as margins fall at home amid fierce competition. The new project will reduce risks from potential global trade barriers, and cut tariff and transport costs, it said, without elaborating.
“The Indonesian project is a key step in the company’s global strategy in new energy materials,” and will benefit from the Zhejiang Hailiang’s experience in its cross-border tube business, it said. The company has 21 production bases across the globe, including the US, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany and Spain.
China’s leading lithium battery producers are also actively looking abroad for production sites to build a global supply chain to tap western markets, the company said. They are also seeking to join domestic copper foil producers, including Zhejiang Hailiang, in building overseas production bases, it added.
Chinese manufacturers of steel and aluminum are also expanding into Southeast Asian countries to tap rising demand, even as domestic consumption wanes and environmental concerns mount in China.
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