(Yicai) Dec. 19 -- XTC New Energy Materials, which counts BYD and Contemporary Amperex Technology as some of its clients, has penned a deal with Zhejiang Power New Energy to secure a long-term supply of raw materials for battery cathodes.

XTC, a unit of state-owned Xiamen Tungsten, signed an agreement with Zhejiang Power to buy no more than 80,000 tons of precursor materials in the next three years, the two firms announced separately yesterday, without disclosing any financial details about the deal.

More specifically, the Xiamen-based company will purchase at least 10,000 tons of precursors for sodium-ion batteries in three years and the rest will be materials for ternary lithium batteries.

If Zhejiang Power manages to increase its production capacity, the pair can talk about expanding the deal. Zhejiang Power mainly makes precursor materials for ternary lithium batteries, but it also produces materials for sodium batteries which are less energy-dense but more safe to use.

The partnership will help XTC ensure a stable supply of raw materials, it said.

Meanwhile, Zhejiang Power noted that the deal should help the firm upgrade the quality of its products and gain channels to export them overseas, the deal shall also provide great growth opportunity for its sodium battery business.

XTC is expanding its battery cathodes business overseas as it announced in September that it will team up with a unit of French nuclear engineering company Orano to build a joint-venture plant with an annual production capacity of 40,000 tons of cathode materials for ternary lithium batteries in northern France's Dunkirk. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Last year, XTC's sales of ternary lithium battery materials surged by 71 percent to 46,400 tons from a year ago, making up almost half of its total revenue, according to the annual report. Some of its clients include CALB Group, Panasonic, and Gotion High-Tech.

Editor: Emmi Laine