(Yicai Global) July 22 -- Shares in Shandong Nanshan Aluminum soared by the exchange-imposed daily limit today after the Chinese aluminum product maker said it intends to double its annual production volume of automotive aluminum sheets used in new energy vehicles.

The firm’s stock price [SHA:600219] closed up 10 percent at CNY5.09 (USD0.79), the highest since May 2008. The share price has already jumped 44 percent this month on good first-half results.

The project, to be located in Longkou, northeastern Shandong province, will add 200,000 tons of automotive aluminum sheets a year, the company said yesterday. The company currently has an output of 100,000 sheets a year and is building another 100,000 tons of capacity that should come into operation at the end of this year.

Costing around CNY2 billion (USD309 million), construction will take between 18 to 30 months, said the company, which counts auto giants BMW, Nissan Motor and SAIC General Motors as well as EV startups Nio and Li Auto among its clients.

As electric cars become more popular across the globe, the demand for light aluminum sheets has shot up. Asia sales are likely to be more than 1.3 million tons in 2025, up from 130,000 tons in 2017, according to London-based information provider IHS Markit.

Editor: Kim Taylor