(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- Jiangsu Alcha Aluminium Group is planning to construct a factory that makes the aluminum foil used in electric car batteries as the Chinese alloy products maker prepares the ground for a stronger presence in the rapidly growing new energy vehicle battery field.

Alcha Aluminium will spend CNY350 million (USD55 million) to build a battery foil plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tons in its homebase of Changshu, near Shanghai, the company said yesterday. The plant should be ready in two years’ time. No other details were given.

Alcha Aluminium, which counts battery maker Gotion High-tech and car manufacturer BYD among its clients, is only able to produce around 350 tons of battery foil a month at present, a senior executive said in August. The new plant will greatly hike output, but the supply of high-quality aluminum foil for car batteries is likely to remain tight for the next three years, the firm said.

China’s shipments of battery-grade aluminum foil, which is used as a cathode material in lithium-ion batteries, is expected to double this year from last year to 120,000 tons, according to tech research institute GGII.

Alcha Aluminium’s share price [SHE:002160] remained unmoved from yesterday at CNY5.06 (USD0.80).

Editor: Kim Taylor