The EIA for the 240,000 mt/year LFP project has been approved, Anda Technology has launched a new investment project valued at 4 billion yuan

On June 3, the Nanning Administrative Approval Bureau of Guangxi issued the "Approval of the Environmental Impact Statement for the 240,000 mt/year LFP Construction Project". This project belongs to Nanning Anda New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., with a total capacity of 240,000 mt, consisting of 16 production lines, each with a capacity of 15,000 mt/year. The project has attracted widespread attention.

Project location: Eastern Nanning (Liujing Industrial Park Area).

Project investment: The total investment is 4 billion yuan, of which the environmental protection investment is 36.7 million yuan, accounting for 0.92% of the total.

Project details: The project covers an area of 334,310.86 square meters and will be constructed in two phases: the first phase with a capacity of 120,000 mt/year LFP, and the second phase with a capacity of 120,000 mt/year LFP, each phase consisting of 8 LFP production lines.

The project will build production workshops, a 220kv substation, an air separation station, an air compressor station, a circulating water station, warehouses, a test center, office buildings, canteens, and dormitories. The project uses iron phosphate, lithium carbonate, and glucose as raw materials, which go through feeding → mixing and grinding → spray drying → roller kiln sintering → pneumatic crushing → demagnetization → packaging to produce LFP products.

SMM Interpretation: Nanning Anda is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the listed company Anda Technology which currently has an LFP capacity of 150,000 mt/year, with downstream customers including leading new energy battery companies such as BYD and CALB.

Under the current competitive landscape in the LFP industry, new project investments are relatively cautious, typically falling into the following categories:

(1) Technology: Advanced technology to produce cost-effective materials ahead of competitors; (2) Strategy: Early plans for future markets but with delayed construction; (3) Resource: Acquiring more mineral resources to support the new energy sector; (4) Momentum: Creating momentum in the capital market; (5) Market: Having strong downstream or overseas customers to support capacity digestion.

I. Overview of Anda:

1. Capacity: 120,000 mt of iron phosphate and 150,000 mt of LFP

According to Anda Technology's 2023 annual report, as of the end of 2023, Anda had an annual capacity of 120,000 mt of iron phosphate and 150,000 mt of LFP. Compared to the 2022 annual report, the company's LFP capacity increased by 60,000 mt. However, as of the end of 2023, the "60,000 mt/year LFP construction project" still had a construction balance of 342 million yuan that had not been capitalized.

2. Anda exited Inner Mongolia LFP project

On the evening of May 9, 2024, Ganfeng Lithium and Anda Technology simultaneously announced that they had recently signed an agreement in which Anda Technology would transfer its 60% stake in Inner Mongolia Anda New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. to Ganfeng Lithium for 1 yuan. Anda Technology no longer holds any shares in Inner Mongolia Anda, and Ganfeng Lithium becomes the sole shareholder of the company. This project was announced on October 16, 2023: Ganfeng Lithium and Guizhou Anda signed a strategic cooperation agreement to collaborate deeply in multiple areas, including the supply of lithium salt products, LFP cathode products, new lithium salt fields, new product development, application research, and industrialisation. They also planned to jointly establish a joint venture to invest in the construction of a 20,000 mt/year LFP cathode materials manufacturing project.

3. Cathode lithium supplement

In March 2024, after nearly two years of research and development, Anda Technology's cathode lithium supplement had reached the pilot production stage. The company has launched the construction of pilot production lines, which is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2024 H1. In the next two years, it will gradually form a capacity of 20,000 mt/year. Currently, Anda Technology has a capacity of 120,000 mt of iron phosphate precursor and 150,000 mt of LFP, and is jointly constructing a production line of no less than 20,000 mt of LFP in Inner Mongolia with SVOLT Energy.

II. Overview of New LFP Projects in 2024

1. Henan Zhongwang New Energy announced EIA for the 25,000 mt LFP project

In January 2024, Henan Zhongwang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announced the acceptance of the EIA for its project to produce 25,000 mt/year of LFP cathode materials for lithium batteries.

The project is located in the industrial concentration area of Yanjin County, Henan Province. It plans to use imported amblygonite as raw materials to produce lithium carbonate, and purchase iron phosphate, glucose, and other raw materials to produce 25,000 mt/year of LFP cathode materials, with a by-product of 12,188 mt/year of anhydrous sodium sulphate.

Henan Zhongwang is an affiliate of Henan Zhongxin New Materials Co., Ltd. The LFP project leases the existing plants of Zhongxin New Materials for construction. Meanwhile, Zhongxin New Materials is engaged in the wet recycling of lithium batteries and has built a production line with an annual capacity of 10,000 mt of lithium carbonate, capable of recycling 100,000 mt of lithium battery scrap annually.

2. Shenzhen Warren New Energy Co., Ltd. signed a 100,000 mt LFP project

On December 29, 2023, the signing ceremony for the 100,000 mt LFP project between the Pingqiao District People's Government of Xinyang and Shenzhen Warren New Energy Co., Ltd. was held at the Xinyang Business Home. The first phase is 40,000 mt LFP.

Attendees at the signing ceremony included Xinyang City Party Secretary Cai Songtao, Mayor Chen Zhiwei, Li Jing (Managing Director of Henan Zhongjin Huirong Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd.), Xu Chao (Executive General Manager of Henan Zhongjin Huirong Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd.), He Dianzou (Chairman of Xinyang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.), Xinyang City leaders Zeng Hui and Qin Baojian, Wang Mingzhong (General Manager of Henan Jinma Energy Co., Ltd.), and Tian Yihong (Chairman of Shenzhen Warren New Energy Co., Ltd.). It is reported that the total planned investment for this project is 1.8 billion yuan, with the final construction of a 100,000 mt LFP sintering production line. Upon completion, the project is expected to achieve an output value of 8 billion yuan as well as profits and taxes of 500 million yuan. The project will be completed in phases, with the first phase constructing 40,000 mt and future expansion to a 100,000 mt scale. The construction land is expected to cover 350 mu.

3. Jiuchen's 100,000 mt/year LMFP project started

In April 2024, Xinjiang Jiuchen New Material Technology Co., Ltd.'s 100,000 mt/year LMFP cathode materials construction project started at Huocheng County, Ili, Xinjiang, with a total investment of 4 billion yuan. The first phase of the project commenced in April 2024, with plans to complete and put into operation two LMFP production lines by the end of the year. The second phase is scheduled to complete and put into operation two LMFP production lines and two precursor production lines by 2025. Compared to LFP, LMFP has approximately 25% higher energy density with only about a 5% increase in cost. It is mainly used for NEV batteries and energy storage batteries.