Posted on 08 Aug 2024
Chinese battery material company BTR New Material Group on Wednesday launched its new lithium-ion battery anode materials plant in Indonesia.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated the factory in the Kendal Special Economic Zone, Central Java, in the presence of BTR chairman He Xueqin, BTR executive vice chairman ceo Huang Youyuan, and Indonesian ministers.
The facility has a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes/year of anode materials in the first phase. The second phase, set to start late this year, will double the total capacity to 160,000 t/y. While the company invested $478 million in phase one, the second phase will see a further investment of $299m, Kallanish Power Materials understands.
The project, first announced last October, was jointly developed with Singapore’s Stellar Investment, a subsidiary of Chinese nickel giant Tsingshan. It is touted as the largest anode production plant outside China.
BTR says the plant will supply diverse anode materials for electric vehicles, consumer batteries, and energy storage systems. Potential customers were not revealed.
“This new facility addresses crucial gaps in the supply of lithium-ion battery anode materials in Indonesia and the ASEAN region, enhancing the new energy sector and upgrading industrial infrastructure in Indonesia,” BTR adds in a statement.
The company says it employed 4,000 local workers during the plant’s construction phase and expects to create 1,200 additional jobs once operational. Yet, the production start date has not been disclosed.
In April this year, Australia-listed Syrah Resources said it had sold and delivered 10,000 t of natural graphite fines from its Balama graphite operation in Mozambique for BTR’s Indonesian plant.
BTR’s anode material plant comes as part of its global growth strategy. Last December, the Chinese company said it would build a 50,000 t/y lithium battery cathode material plant in Morocco. The CNY 3.6 billion ($501m) project secured the greenlights from the Moroccan government this March. An initial 25,000 t output is expected in September 2026.
Source:Kallanish Power Materials
