(Yicai Global) April 26 -- Shares in Zhejiang Weiming Environment Protection surged as much as 5.9 percent today before losing ground after the Chinese solid waste disposal company said it is teaming up with nickel giant Tsingshan Holdings and non-ferrous metal miner Shengtun Mining to construct an electric car battery materials plant.

Weiming’s share price [SHA:603568] closed up 0.62 percent at CNY22.80 (USD3.50). Earlier in the day it had hit CNY24. The Shanghai bourse composite index closed down 1.44 percent.

The new factory, to be located in Weiming’s base of Wenzhou, southeastern Zhejiang province, will have an annual output of 200,000 tons of battery materials, Weiming said yesterday. There will be a plant for nickel matte refining, production lines for high-nickel ternary precursors and cathode materials as well as auxiliary facilities. No construction schedule was given.

A joint venture will be set up by the three partners that will be responsible for the investment, construction and operation of the plant, Weiming said. Weiming will hold a controlling stake of 51 percent, Shengtun 30 percent and Tsingshan the rest. The investment amount was not specified.

This is the waste handler’s second foray into the battery materials sector. The firm said in January that it is teaming up with Hong Kong-based Merit International Capital to build a USD390 million nickel smelting facility in Indonesia with an output of 40,000 tons of nickel metal elements a year.

Tsingshan, the world’s largest nickel resource developer, linked arms with Huayou Cobalt and German auto giant Volkswagen last month on two joint ventures, one in Indonesia and one in China’s southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to make nickel, refine cobalt sulfate, process precursors, and produce cathode materials to support VW’s growth strategy for new energy vehicles in China.

Editor: Kim Taylor