(Yicai) July 10 -- Azure, a Chinese maker of lithium batteries and light-emitting diode chips, said it plans to invest USD2.9 billion to build a lithium battery factory in Indonesia to strengthen its capacity to supply products to overseas customers.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of five gigawatt-hours of various types of cylindrical lithium batteries, the Suzhou-based company announced yesterday.

Azure will set up a local project company to oversee the investment, construction, and operation of the factory, it noted, adding that the project is subject to approvals from relevant authorities in both China and Indonesia. No further details were disclosed.

Azure’s lithium battery products are mainly used in small consumer goods, such as power tools, cleaning appliances, electric bicycles, and electric motorcycles. Its lithium battery plant in Malaysia, which was completed and put into operation last April, boasts leading European and US power tool makers, such as Bosch and TTI, as key clients.

Azure’s shares [SHE: 002245] were trading down 2 percent at CNY20.11 (USD2.96) as of 10.20 a.m. in Shenzhen today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione