(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- Shares in CNGR Advanced Material surged as much as 9.5 percent today after the Chinese raw material supplier for new energy vehicle batteries said yesterday it is linking arms with South Korean recycling giant SungEel Hitech to explore battery recycling in Europe.

CNGR’s share price [SHE:300919] was trading up 2.56 percent at 12:45 p.m. today at CNY169.09 (USD26). Earlier in the day it had reached CNY180.53.

SungEel Hitech and CNGR will carry out a feasibility study of battery recycling and stripping in Europe and work together to improve the global used battery recycling network and overseas hydrometallurgy system to realize a closed loop of resources in the industrial chain, the Changsha, central Hunan province-based firm said.

Business has been booming for CNGR as growing NEV demand spurs the need for batteries. In the third quarter, the firm’s profit nearly tripled from the same period last year to CNY765 million (USD119.4 million). Revenue also leapt almost three-fold to CNY13.9 billion (USD2.2 billion).

Gunsan-based SungEel Hitech is planning to more than double its battery raw material output to 56,000 tons of recycled nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium a year.

Editor: Kim Taylor