By Greg Gao

(JW Insights) Mar 29 -- Chinese battery materials supplier Hunan Changyuan Lico(长远锂科) is teaming up with French oil refiner Axens Group to construct a plant that makes the ternary precursors and cathode materials used in electric car batteries in France which will supply the European market, reported Yicai Global on March 28.

The pair will build a factory to mass produce ternary precursors and cathode materials for lithium batteries with medium to high-nickel content, Changyuan said on March 27, citing the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Rueil-Malmaison-based Axens.

Changyuan will contribute capitals and technology, the Changsha, central China’s Hunan province-based firm said. No details were given about the investment amount, the shareholding ratio or the production capacity, according to Yicai Global.

Axens is a subsidiary of the Institute of Petrole France, which has production bases in many countries and strong manufacturing capacity as well as project operation capabilities.

Changyuan has an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons of ternary lithium precursors and 180,000 tons of cathode materials, according to the company's website.

By building factories overseas with foreign partners, Chinese battery materials producers can try to circumvent US trade barriers. Another Chinese battery and material supplier GEM(格林美) is also planning to invest up to $931 million to build a battery materials joint venture plant in South Korea to supply the US and European markets, the Xiamen, southeastern China’s Fujian province-based company said recently.

Founded in 2002, Changyuan got listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board. The company is a subsidiary of mining giant China Minmetals Corp(中国五矿集团). Changyuan supplied battery materials, including multi-material precursors, multi-element cathode materials, lithium cobalt oxide cathode materials, nickel-hydrogen battery cathode materials.