(Yicai Global) June 28 -- Ningbo Shanshan’s shares rose after the world’s largest supplier of lithium-ion battery materials announced its third plan in a year to expand the firm’s capacity to produce battery anode materials.

The company’s stock [SHA: 600884] finished 6.1 percent higher at CNY31.80 (USD4.76), after gaining as much as 8 percent earlier today.

Shanshan’s unit in Shanghai will invest CNY5 billion (USD746.6 million) to build a production base in Ningbo, where the company is headquartered, with annual capacity of 40,000 tons of lithium-ion battery anode materials, it said in a statement late yesterday.

In April, Shanshan announced a CNY9.7 billion plan to more than double its capacity to make anode materials by building a 300,000-ton plant in Yunnan province, expected to be completed by the end of 2024, and last August, the firm said it would invest CNY8 billion to construct a 100,000-ton factory in Sichuan province, to be completed within 32 months.

The Ningbo plant will be built in two phases. The first, to be finished by the end of next year, will have an annual capacity of 10,000 tons. The 30,000-ton second phase will be put into operation by the end of 2025.

The project includes all steps of production, from raw material and intermediate products processing to surface modification and finished products processing, Shanshan said, adding that it can help the firm build advantages in the capacity and scale of silicon-based anode materials.

The company had CNY5.6 billion of capital as of the end of March, Shanshan said, adding that it has capital expenditure plans for anode materials projects such as those in Yunnan and Sichuan. So it may not be able to raise enough funding in time for the Ningbo project.

Net profit at Shanshan soared 167 percent to CNY89 million (USD120.5 million) in the first quarter from a year earlier, with profit from the anode material business jumped 43 percent to CNY147 million. Revenue was CNY5 billion, up 26 percent.

Founded in 1992 as a textiles firm, Shanshan entered the new energy materials field in 1999. Its main businesses include clothing, lithium-ion battery materials, battery system integration, energy management services, and charging pile construction. It joined the Shanghai stock exchange in 1996 and began this March to prepare to list in Switzerland.

Editor: Futura Costaglione