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Investing 658 million yuan! Baichuan Co., Ltd.’s project for producing 50,000 tons of needle coke per year has entered the trial production phase ahead of schedule. Author/Source: Coal Tar Deep Processing and Hydrogenation Technology Collaboration Group. Date: August 26, 2020. Clicks: 19. On the evening of August 24, Baichuan Co., Ltd. announced that the project funded through its convertible bonds, namely the one for producing 50,000 tons of needle coke per year, had completed the construction of its main structures as well as the installation and testing of equipment. The trial production plan and the conditions necessary for starting trial production have been approved by an expert panel, meaning that the project is now ready for trial production. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has tightened its management and adjusted various business strategies in a timely manner, accelerating the progress of new construction projects while ensuring construction safety and quality. Currently, the \"50,000-ton per year needle coke production project\" has entered the trial production phase, with the project schedule advancing ahead of schedule. The annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of acicular coke for Jiangsu Baichuan High-Tech New Materials Co., Ltd. involves a total investment of 658 million yuan. The project is located in the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in Ningxia, and it is constructed by Ningxia Baichuan New Materials Co., Ltd., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiangsu Baichuan High-Tech New Materials Co., Ltd. This project is an important part of the company’s efforts to pursue a diversified development path in the chemical and new materials industries. Once completed and put into operation, it will help create new sources of profit growth, expand the range of products available, further enhance the company’s resilience to risks and competitiveness, and have a positive impact on the company’s future development. The main product of this project is coal-based needle coke, which is used by downstream enterprises to produce ultra-high power graphite electrodes and lithium battery anode materials. It is further supplied to industries such as electric arc furnace steelmaking, as well as to fields including power batteries for new energy vehicles, energy storage batteries, and consumer batteries. Through the construction of this project, the company will gain an additional production capacity of 50,000 tons per year for needle coke. Of this amount, 45,000 tons are planned to be sold, primarily to manufacturers of graphite electrodes and lithium battery anode materials, while 5,000 tons will be used internally to meet the needs of the graphitization and anode material production processes. The project utilizes a complete set of technologies licensed on a paid basis by Anshan Thermal Energy Research Institute Co., Ltd. of China Iron and Steel Group. The acicular coke technology developed by the China Iron and Steel Research Institute for Thermal Energy has won the Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress awarded by the former Ministry of Metallurgy, as well as various awards at the provincial and municipal levels. It has also been recognized as an industrialization demonstration project under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Torch Program and as a **key new product. This technology is mature and reliable; it has been applied in other projects as well, ensuring the stability of the quality of acicular coke products. The prospectus for the convertible bonds states that the project is located within the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base in Ningxia, where there are abundant coal resources, resulting in low raw material costs. The infrastructure for transportation is well-developed, with excellent rail and road transport facilities. At present, a number of high-quality coal chemical enterprises have gathered in the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, creating a certain degree of scale effect and a foundation for industrial chains. The raw materials required for the main product of this project, namely needle coke, such as coal tar, are readily available in nearby markets and can be purchased easily, thereby effectively reducing transportation costs. In addition, the power supply, water supply, as well as energy sources such as steam and natural gas required during the construction and operation of this project are all supplied uniformly by the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, ensuring reliable and stable supply conditions. The Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base is located in the northwest region, where energy and power resources are relatively abundant. The average selling price of electricity in Ningxia is significantly lower than that in other regions of China, with a price difference of around 0.1–0.28 yuan per kilowatt-hour. The price of natural gas there is also about 0.6–3 yuan per cubic meter lower compared to other sources available on the market, allowing the company to obtain sufficient energy at relatively low costs. Advantages in raw material and energy costs can effectively reduce the production costs of needle coke, enhance the market competitiveness of the product, and create greater profit margins for the company. Jiangsu Baichuan High-Tech New Materials Co., Ltd. is a company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, specializing in the production of high-tech fine chemical products. It owns Baichuan Chemical (Rugao) Co., Ltd. and Rugao Baichuan Chemical Materials Co., Ltd. It has been dedicated for a long time to the research, development, and production of various environmentally friendly and energy-saving chemical products, such as acetates, propylene glycol ethers and their esters, anhydrides, plasticizers, polyols, as well as insulating resins and enameled wire coatings. It has been recognized as a high-tech enterprise and a private technology enterprise in Jiangsu Province, and is also a company that produces well-known products in Jiangsu.