(Yicai Global) March 12 -- China's Hoshion Industrial Aluminium, which counts BYD and Honda Motor as some of its clients, plans to invest CNY1 billion (USD154.1 million) to build a plant to seize opportunities in eastern China's new energy vehicle components market.

Unit Hoshion New Energy Auto Parts will construct the project in Anhui province to provide clients in the Yangtze River Delta region with parts, the Guangdong province-based firm said in a statement yesterday. BYD has plants in Shanghai and Jiangsu province's Changzhou.

The move can be seen as another step in the aluminum manufacturer's transformation into a NEV parts maker. The point is also to integrate upstream and downstream supply chains and reduce procurement costs, the firm explained.

The project has two phases. Hoshion will first lease 15,000 square meters of land in an economic and technological zone to make battery cases and aluminum cases. Those production lines will be ready this month.

By September 2022, the zone will provide the company with 11.4 hectares of land to build a plant to make 1 million components such as battery cases and car body parts each year, starting from 2023.

With the project, Hoshion expects to earn CNY1.7 billion in revenue each year and pay CNY70 million (USD10.8 million) in taxes.

Hoshion's share price [SHE:002824] rose by 1.6 percent to CNY15.66 (USD2.40) this afternoon.

Editor: Emmi Laine