(Yicai) June 5 -- Zhongke Electric said the Chinese company plans to invest CNY8 billion (USD1.1 billion) to build a lithium-ion battery anode material factory in Oman.

The plant, located in the Sohar Port and Freezone, will be built in two phases, each with an annual output of 100,000 tons of lithium battery anode materials, the Hunan province-based company announced late yesterday. Each phase will have a construction period of 36 months, it added.

Zhongke will invest in and construct the two phases in stages based on market conditions and customer demand and may need to introduce strategic investors, it said, without providing further details.

Zhongke aims to effectively meet overseas market demand, seize new market opportunities emerging from the international lithium battery supply chain restructuring, and establish itself as a leading global lithium-ion battery anode materials brand through the Oman project, it noted.

In addition, Zhongke said it has postponed construction on its Moroccan factory without disclosing the reason. The company announced plans to invest up to CNY5 billion (USD694 million) to build the factory with an annual output of 100,000 tons of lithium-ion battery anode materials in April last year.

Zhongke is one of China's leading suppliers of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Its shipments reached 225,700 tons last year, with revenue from the business topping CNY5 billion, accounting for 90 percent of its total income, according to its annual financial report.

Zhongke counts Chinese battery giants Contemporary Amperex Technology and BYD as well as global suppliers, including Amperex Technology, LG Energy Solution, and SK On, among its customers. Last year, it added a battery subsidiary of a renowned overseas carmaker and South Korea's Samsung SDI as new customers.

However, Zhongke's overseas revenue accounted for only 2.2 percent of its annual income last year.

Shares of Zhongke [SHE: 300035] rose 0.4 percent to CNY14.54 (USD2.02) apiece as of 1.25 p.m. in Shenzhen today, after earlier jumping by as much as 1.4 percent.

Editor: Martin Kadiev