(Yicai) March 12 -- Chinese battery materials manufacturer Putailai New Energy Technology will invest USD297 million to build a new production base in Malaysia to better meet growing demand from overseas customers.

The factory, located in the Gurun Heavy Industrial Park in the Malaysian state of Kedah, will have an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of lithium battery anode materials, the Shanghai-based company announced yesterday. Construction is expected to begin after regulatory approval and last for two years.

The preliminary feasibility study and due diligence for the project have been completed, and a framework investment agreement has been signed with relevant stakeholders, Putailai noted.

The project will help the company expand its production capacity of lithium battery anode materials to meet the localization requirements from core downstream customers with battery plants in Southeast Asia, achieve the overseas deployment of its products, and further integrate into the global supply chain, Putailai pointed out.

Even though the firm did not disclose the names of the core downstream clients mentioned in the announcement, public information indicates that Eve Energy, one of its main Chinese clients for anode materials, has already invested in a factory in Kedah, and Samsung SDI, a key overseas customer, owns a plant in Negeri Sembilan, another Malaysian state.

Putailai specializes in mid-to-high-end artificial graphite anode materials. At the end of last year, it had an annual production capacity of anode materials of 250,000 tons, with total shipments of 143,000 tons in 2025, up 8.1 percent from the previous year. Only about 6 percent of the company's revenue last year came from overseas markets.

Putailai's shares [SHA: 603659] were trading down 1.4 percent at CNY29.23 (USD4.24) as of lunch break in Shanghai today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione