China's Huayou Cobalt Falls After Indonesian JV Agrees to Build NEV Battery Supply Chain With Local SOEs

(Yicai) Feb. 2 -- Shares of Huayou Cobalt dropped after the major Chinese producer of lithium battery materials said its Indonesian joint venture, in which Chinese battery maker Eve Energy holds a minority 15 percent stake, will ally with local state-owned enterprises to build a complete new energy vehicle battery supply chain in Indonesia.Huayou Cobalt [SHA: 603799] fell 3.2 percent to CNY69.48 (USD10.00) in Shanghai today after opened down more than 4 percent, but rebounded back to positive territory and up more than 1 percent briefly in morning session, Eve Energy's stock [SHE: 300014] dropped 1.35 percent to CNY62.93 in Shenzhen after opened up more than 3 percent. China’s stock market saw a massive wave of sell-offs today. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished lower by 2.48 percent, and the Shenzhen ChiNext Index, the exchange’s tech-focused growth board, closed down 2.46 percent.HYD Investment recently signed a deal with PT Industri Baterai Indonesia and mining giant PT Aneka Tambang Tbk on the supply chain project, Huayou Cobalt announced late on Jan. 30. A unit of PT Aneka will supply required mineral raw materials, it added.PT Industri Baterai Indonesia is a state-owned holding company set up by the Indonesian government to foster the development of its electric vehicle battery industry. It has planned a total investment of USD 17 billion to build a full upstream-to-downstream battery ecosystem, targeting to turn Indonesia into one of the world’s leading EV battery manufacturers, according to early announcements by Indonesia government.PT Aneka has abundant nickel resources, while one of PT Industri Baterai’s four shareholders is Mining Industry Indonesia, the parent company of PT Aneka, Huayou Cobalt pointed out.HYD Investment, PT Industri, and PT Aneka agreed to jointly invest in and develop projects in all links of the battery supply chain in Indonesia, build the country into a production base for NEV batteries and other battery products sold worldwide, and positively impact the sustainable development of the country's economy, Huayou Cobalt noted.The three companies commit to investing and building a ternary lithium-ion battery project with an annual production capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours, Huayou Cobalt said. The first phase will have a capacity of 7 GWh a year, and include a battery recycling plant with an annual capacity of no more than 10,000 tons and factories to make corresponding products in the upstream and midstream of the supply chain, such as nickel ore smelting, mineral product fine processing, and battery precursors and cathode materials, it added.HYD Investment, PT Industri, and PT Aneka plan to establish separate JVs for the investment, development, and operation of sub-projects in each link of the supply chain, including a mining JV, Huayou Cobalt noted, without disclosing further investment details, or whether the project could affect the investment plans of Huayou’s existing battery material projects in Indonesia.The cooperation will help fully integrate the core advantages of all parties involved in terms of resource endowment, technological research and development, downstream markets, and supply chain layout, strengthen Huayou Cobalt's capabilities in integrated industrial operation and international business, and successfully build a globally competitive NEV battery integrated supply chain in Indonesia, the Tongxiang-based firm pointed out.PT Aneka is one of the legal entities responsible for implementing the Indonesian government's strategy for a complete NEV battery supply chain.Huayou Cobalt formed HYD Investment to promote the implementation of the new project, holding a 70 percent stake in the JV, with Eve Energy and Indonesian logistics firm PT Daaz Bara Lestari Tbk owning 15 percent each.Editor: Martin Kadiev