Ganfeng Lithium wants to build batteries in Turkey

Chinese lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium has signed an agreement with Turkish battery manufacturer Yiğit Akü to establish a $500 million joint venture. The goal is the production of lithium batteries.

Image: Ganfeng Lithium

Raw materials producer Ganfeng Lithium is thus investing in a downstream link of its value chain, as the Chinese group will build batteries using its lithium in Turkey in future. According to a stock exchange announcement, the companies want to construct a battery factory in Turkey with an annual production capacity of 5 GWh.

The project will focus on the development and production of current and future lithium battery technologies. An official Ganfeng announcement cited by international media mentions batteries for marine and aviation applications, among others.

According to the Reuters news agency, Yiğit Akü primarily manufactures lead-acid batteries. On its website, however, the company also advertises its lithium batteries for use in smaller industrial or leisure vehicles such as forklift trucks or golf carts. Yiğit Akü was founded in 1976 and is listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. The company’s production network includes four factory locations.

In terms of market capitalisation, Ganfeng is the largest lithium processor in the world. However, it has also been increasingly investing in the in-house production of batteries for several years. In January 2023, for example, Ganfeng announced its intention to invest 15 billion yuan in two new battery factories to increase its production capacity by 34 GWh to around 100 GWh per year.

At the end of September 2022, Ganfeng unveiled a major project in Yichun in Jiangxi province. It will build an integrated lithium mining and battery production base for 30 billion yuan (around 4.4 billion euros). There is talk of a production capacity of 30 GWh per year for “new types of lithium-ion batteries” and a production capacity of 7,000 tonnes per year for lithium metals.

reuters.com, cnevpost.com

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