(Yicai) Jan. 14 -- Ronbay New Energy Technology said it has secured an order for lithium-iron phosphate cathode materials worth CNY120 billion (USD17.2 billion) from Contemporary Amperex Technology, expecting the deal to turn it into a leading supplier in the industry.

Ronbay will provide 3.05 million tons of LFP cathode materials to CATL's factories in China and related services starting this quarter through 2030, the Ningbo-based company announced late yesterday.

In addition, Ronbay and its subsidiaries will have priority participation in CATL's new projects and product development activities, it noted. It will also develop matching new capacity, product development, and production operation plans for the global electric vehicle batteries leader worldwide, it added.

The cost of renewable energy has started to drop below that of fossil fuels, Ronbay pointed out. Combined with the significant electricity demand driven by the development of artificial intelligence, it will likely propel energy storage battery applications into an explosive growth phase, creating vast new market opportunities for LFP cathode materials, it added.

Following the announcement, the Shanghai Stock Exchange requested Ronbay to provide additional explanations on how it would handle such a large order in 24 hours and to self-examine if the deal could lead to insider trading or other violations. The bourse also seeks clarification on whether the company has any other undisclosed new or ongoing capacity expansion projects or related asset acquisition plans, as well as details on how it estimated the value of the order.

Ronbay [SHA: 688005] suspended trading today due to needing time to respond to the inquiries.

Ronbay focused on ternary lithium battery cathode materials before shifting to large-scale operations in LFP cathode materials last year. In November, it also became CATL's primary supplier of sodium-ion battery cathode materials.

Editor: Martin Kadiev