(Yicai Global) Oct. 10 -- Shares in Contemporary Amperex Technology fell today on the first day of trading after a week-long public holiday despite the Chinese electric car battery giant recently announcing plans to build yet another battery factory in China and to become the second-largest stakeholder in cobalt producer CMOC Group.

CATL’s share price [SHE:300750] closed down 2 percent at CNY392.78 (USD55). While CMOC's Shanghai-traded shares [SHA:603993] finished the day down 4.4 percent at CNY4.51 (USD0.64) and its Hong Kong stock [HKG:3993] sank 8.2 percent to close at HKD2.91 (USD0.37).

Costing CNY14 billion (USD2 billion), the new plant will be located in Luoyang, central Henan province and will be CATL’s 13th battery facility in China, the Ningde, southeastern Fujian province-based company said on Sept. 28. The firm also has two other plants under construction in Germany and Hungary.

The facility should be completed within three years and will help CATL improve delivery times to customers, it added. No details about the product types and output capacity were given.

CATL also plans to become the second-biggest shareholder in CMOC, formerly known as China Molybdenum, which owns cobalt ore resources, CATL said on Sept. 30. CATL’s Sichuan province-based unit will acquire a 24.6 percent stake through an equity swap. The move will help CATL ensure the supply of raw materials needed to produce EV batteries, it added.

CATL has no intention of becoming majority stakeholder, Luoyang-based CMOC said the same day, adding that there were no plans for the battery maker to further increase its stake in CMOC within the next three years.

CATL and CMOC are linking arms on other projects. The two parties are developing phase one of the Kinsanfu copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo at a cost of USD1.8 billion. The mine has some of the biggest cobalt reserves in the world. CMOC also controls the adjacent Tenke Fungurume Mine. Once both projects are up and running next year, CMOC will become the world’s biggest cobalt supplier.

Editor: Kim Taylor