(Yicai) March 11 -- Shares of Tinci Materials Technology, which has been plagued by overcapacity in recent years, surged after the major Chinese supplier of electrolytes and electrolyte chemicals for lithium batteries said it will halt production at some plants for up to 30 days.

Tinci [SHE: 002709] surged by its 10 percent daily trading limit in Shenzhen today to close at CNY21.27 (USD2.96) a share. The stock has tumbled about 68 percent since July 2022.

Tinci plans to overhaul production lines for lithium hexafluorophosphate, or LiPF6, which is used as an electrolyte in lithium batteries, at some plants starting today, the Guangzhou-based company said late on March 8. The plants can turn out 30,000 tons of LiPF6 a year, it added. 

Tinci’s earnings sank last year after solid growth in the previous two years. Net profit plunged 67 percent to CNY1.9 billion (USD265.6 million), while revenue sank 31 percent to CNY15.5 billion (USD2.2 billion), its 2023 earnings report showed at the end of last month. The firm blamed tumbling prices of lithium battery electrolytes.

Tinci’s shipments of lithium battery electrolytes hit nearly 400,000 tons last year, ranking it top in China with a market share of 35 percent, market research firm EV Tank and think tank China Yiwei Institute of Economics said in an industry white paper published early this year. 

Editor: Martin Kadiev