(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- Shares of LB Group soared after China’s leading producer of titanium dioxide announced a plan to invest CNY3.5 billion (USD548 million) to build a plant to produce lithium battery anode materials.

LB Group’s stock price [SHE:002601] rose as much as 6.7 percent to CNY28.71 (USD4.50) today, and was trading up 3.9 percent as of 14.20 p.m.

The plant, which will be built in Jiaozuo, in China’s central Henan province, will have an annual capacity of 200,000 tons of anode materials, the Henan province-based firm said in a statement late yesterday. The project will be carried out in three phases, the first two with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons, and the third one of 100,000. No schedule was disclosed.

The plan is LB’s latest effort to integrate into the supply chains of the production of new energy materials, and to improve its comprehensive competitiveness.

In the past five months, LB announced four upcoming facilities to produce materials for power batteries.

LB said in July that it will form a joint venture in Hubei province to build an iron phosphate plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons, thus entering the market of raw materials for lithium batteries. The factory will use iron sulfate, a by-product of its titanium dioxide plants, as raw material.

Two of the projects under construction will make phosphates and will be located in Henan province. For the first one, LB will invest CNY2 billion to build a production facility with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate in Qinyang. The other plant in Jiaozuo will cost the firm CNY1.2 billion and will produce 200,000 tons of iron phosphate per year.

LB also announced a CNY1.5 billion investment to build a production line for graphite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons on Aug. 12. But initially, the output will be 25,000 tons.

Editor: Futura Costaglione