(Yicai) Dec. 14 -- Chinese battery materials giant Ningbo Shanshan is constructing a polarizer plant for high-end display panels to fill a gap in the market as global demand for China-made liquid crystal displays soars, but the country’s production of polarizers, which help create visible images on screens by filtering the light polarizations that reach the LCD’s pixel layer, lags behind.

Ningbo Shanshan is investing CNY6 billion (USD846.7 million) in the new facility, it said yesterday. This includes CNY1.4 billion (USD196 million) for the September purchase of South Korean LG Chem’s polarizer business and related intellectual properties on the mainland as well as in South Korea and Vietnam plus the relocation of production lines from South Korea to China.

The factory, which will be located in Yangzhou, eastern Jiangsu province, will produce 30 million square meters of polarizers for organic light emitting diode displays a year and 10 million sqm of polarizers for in-car display panels, the Ningbo-based firm said. Construction will start in September 2025 and the plant should be up and running in April 2027.

China's liquid crystal displays make up 70 percent of the global total and its OLED screens account for 40 percent, Shanshan said, citing UK market research firm Omdia. Yet polarizer production is still quite low in China, and there is heavy reliance on imports. Only 3 percent of polarizers for in-car displays are made domestically, it said, citing data from CINNO Research. Therefore there is huge room for expansion.

Shanshan's share price [SHA:600884] closed flat at CNY12.49 (USD1.75) today.

Editor: Kim Taylor