(Yicai) Nov. 14 -- Skychem Technology’s stock price rose after the Chinese maker of electronic chemicals said it plans to invest CNY100 million (USD13.8 million) building a production plant in Thailand to establish overseas capacity and expand abroad.

Skychem [SHA: 688603] climbed 4.1 percent to CNY82.99 (USD11.43) a share in Shanghai today, giving it a market capitalization of CNY4.86 billion (USD668 million).

Many companies have moved their printed circuit board factories to Thailand in recent years, Skychem said late yesterday. Nearly 30 PCB firms from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, and Japan have set up shop in the country, and most are Skychem's clients or potential customers, it added.

Major listed circuit board firms have set up factories in Southeast Asia, and almost 80 percent are customers of Skychem, it noted last month, adding that some have asked for overseas supply from the third quarter of next year. The Zhuhai-based firm said overseas business would focus on Thailand and cover SE Asian regions including Malaysia and Vietnam.

Skychem's revenue fell 12 percent to CNY247 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, while net profit dipped 2.7 percent to CNY41.7 million.

Some customers have increased their orders recently, boosting the utilization rate in consumer electronics, automotive electronics, artificial intelligence, and other fields, Skychem noted regarding its second-half performance. “We have continued to replace global rivals such as Atotech for liquid chemical supply and develop new customers to seize a bigger market share,” it said.

Berlin-based Atotech, a subsidiary of France's TotalEnergies, is the world's leading supplier of general metal finishing technologies and services as well as polychlorinated biphenyl chemicals and equipment.

Editor: Martin Kadiev