Registration of the first phase of Wanhua Chemical’s green energy industrial park project, which has an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate

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On December 20, according to information from the Haiyang Development and Reform Bureau, the project to produce 100,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate per year in the first phase of Wanhua Chemical’s Green Energy Industrial Park, operated by Wanhua Chemical (Haiyang) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd., was approved for implementation. Not long ago, the information regarding the environmental impact assessment for the first phase of Wanhua Chemical’s new generation battery materials industrial park, which is built by Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Industry Co., Ltd., and whose capacity is 100,000 tons per year of lithium iron phosphate, was made public for the first time. In just about 1 month, Wanhua Chemical launched two lithium iron phosphate projects with a capacity of 100,000 tons each? According to the registration information, the lithium iron phosphate project registered on December 20 has as its legal entity Wanhua Chemical (Haiyang) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. This company was established on December 6, with a registered capital of 450 million yuan; it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Industry Co., Ltd. The lithium iron phosphate project, for which the environmental impact assessment documents were released for the first time in November, is being built by Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Industry Co., Ltd. Based on the above information, there are two possible scenarios regarding the newly registered 100,000-ton lithium iron phosphate project: 1. It actually refers to the same project. Although the owner of the 100,000-ton lithium iron phosphate project for which an environmental impact assessment was issued in November was not disclosed, its constructor is Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Industry Co., Ltd. As mentioned earlier, this company is the parent company of Wanhua Chemical (Haiyang) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. Meanwhile, Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Industry Company filed for a project for a new generation of battery material industrial park on October 14. When the two projects refer to the same one, Wanhua Chemical’s first 100,000-ton lithium iron phosphate production facility is located in Shandong; the owner of this facility is Wanhua Chemical (Haiyang) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd., while the construction party is Wanhua Chemical (Yantai) Battery Industry Company. 2. The two projects are not related to each other; in other words, they are independent projects. This means that Wanhua Chemical approved two lithium iron phosphate projects with a capacity of 100,000 tons each in Shandong Province within just over a month, and both are still only in the planning stage for Phase 1. Overall, the first possibility seems more likely. Yet even for the same project, Wanhua Chemical has already invested directly in at least two 100,000-ton lithium iron phosphate projects nationwide, with another one located in Sichuan. According to the public notice on the changes to the environmental impact assessment for the project aimed at producing 100,000 tons per year of lithium iron phosphate cathode materials, issued on August 6 by Wanhua Chemical (Sichuan) Battery Materials Technology Co., Ltd. Wanhua Chemical plans to change the project from one with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons of lithium iron phosphate for use in lithium-ion batteries to one with an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons; the investment amount will also be reduced from 2 billion yuan to 880 million yuan. According to the information, the Sichuan project was originally planned to be built in four phases, with lithium iron phosphate production facilities and related supporting infrastructure being constructed. The production capacities for phases one to four were 50,000 tons, 50,000 tons, 100,000 tons, and 100,000 tons respectively. After the change, it will be constructed in two phases, with 50,000 tons built in each phase. It is reported that the tender for the general construction contract of this 100,000-ton lithium iron phosphate project was issued within this year. Overall, as a core business for its “second growth curve,” Wanhua Chemical is likely to continue increasing its investments in battery materials.