(Yicai Global) April 9 -- Shares of Ganfeng Lithium surged after the Chinese firm said it will build a new factory in "Asia's lithium capital" to increase the world’s largest lithium metal producer's output.

Ganfeng Lithium's stock price [SHE:002460] jumped as much as 4.3 percent to CNY100.84 (USD15.40) intraday today. The shares have more than doubled in value over the past 12 months.

The factory in southeastern China's Yichun should make 7,000 tons of products such as lithium alloys and all-solid-state lithium battery anode materials a year to meet market demand, the Jiangxi province-based firm said in a statement yesterday after signing a deal with the management committee of the Yichun Economic and Technological Development Zone.

All-solid-state batteries are considered to be the next big thing in new energy vehicle batteries. Ganfeng is focusing on the technology in its battery business and has built a pilot production line with an annual capacity of 100 million watt-hours in 2019, according to its earnings report in 2020.

The Yichun government will provide 33.3 hectares of land for the latest project, and save space for future expansion, the statement added, without disclosing financial details of the undertaking.

Ganfeng, which counts Tesla, Volkswagen, and BMW as some of its clients, currently produces 1,600 tons of lithium metals a year. Due to strong demand, its capacity utilization rate reached 98.6 percent last year, public information shows. Besides NEV batteries, its products are used in industrial and pharmaceutical fields.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi