(Yicai) Sept. 30 – Shares in Zhongwei and XTC New Energy Materials climbed today after the two major players in China’s lithium battery supply chain said they will link arms to ensure the steady supply of raw materials and work together to develop new products, such as solid-state and semi-solid-state battery materials.

Zhongwei’s share price [SHE:300919] closed up 1.3 percent at CNY49.90 (USD7). Earlier in the day it surged 4.7 percent to CNY51.58. While XTC’s stock [SHA:688778] finished the day up 2.4 percent at CNY83.90 (USD11.80). Earlier in the day it soared 6.1 percent to CNY86.94.

Zhongwei, which supplies the precursor materials that Xiamen-based XTC uses to produce cathode materials for lithium batteries, are forming a long-term, stable collaboration which covers product supply, marketing and processing, the two parties said yesterday.

Over the next three years, the total volume of lithium battery materials traded in the co-operation is expected to reach 335,000 metric tons, averaging 115,000 tons a year.

The battery materials involved in the tie-up include precursor products such as ternary precursors, manganese-based precursors and solid-state battery precursors, as well as raw materials like cobalt tetroxide, lithium carbonate, lithium phosphate and recycled lithium products, they said.

The two parties also intend to link arms on the layout of their global production capacity, mineral resource exploration and the development of new battery materials for emerging markets, such as low-altitude aircraft and intelligent robots, they said.

The tie-up will focus heavily on cutting-edge technologies such as solid-state battery materials, with the aim of accelerating the development of high-energy-density and fast-charging batteries to meet growing demand and seize market opportunities, Zhongwei said.

The partnership will help strengthen XTC’s supply chain stability, XTC said.

Editor: Kim Taylor