(Yicai Global) Dec. 14 -- Shares of China's Guotai International Group jumped after one of China's top three battery electrolyte suppliers said it will spend CNY2.7 billion (USD424.4 million) to increase its capacity.

Guotai International’s stock price [SHE: 002091] surged as much as 8.5 percent to CNY13.12 (USD2.10) intraday. The shares are up by more than 60 percent this year.

The Jiangsu province-based company revealed two investment plans yesterday to boost the output of its factories that are still under construction.

The increase is significant. An executive of Guotai International said on the Shenzhen bourse's investor platform in May that the firm's two production bases in Zhangjiagang and Ningde had finished 70,000 tons of output so far this year. The new numbers are much bigger.

One of the latest projects is in south-western Poland. Two affiliates are intending to team up to add a capacity of 260,000 tons of electrolytes each year in Prusice to meet European battery customers' raw material needs, based on yesterday's statement. The project should be ready in 24 months.

The Prusice plant is brand new. The factory is entering trial production with an output of 40,000 tons per year, Guotai International said on Dec. 2 on the investor relations platform.

The other plan is domestic. A unit in Ningde will invest CNY1.5 billion to build a facility with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons of lithium-ion battery electrolytes per year in the southeastern Chinese city to meet the demand of a major client with a local plant, the firm said in another statement yesterday. China's biggest battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology is based in Ningde.

The project is expected to start next year and be finished in 24 months. The facility should reach full capacity four years after completion.

At the moment, the Ningde plant can churn out 40,000 tons of electrolytes per year, while the parent is in the process of increasing the annual capacity by 80,000 tons, according to Guotai International's project feasibility report.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi