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Financial Associated Press, September 23rd (Reporter Liu Yue) Following its layout in the USA and Hungary, the leading lithium battery separator manufacturer Yunnan Energy New Material (002812.SZ) is expanding its overseas lithium battery investments by planning to invest 2 billion yuan in the construction of a lithium battery separator project in Malaysia.

Specifically, Yunnan Energy New Material announced tonight that its holding subsidiary, Shanghai Yunnan Energy, plans to establish a subsidiary in Malaysia to invest in and construct a lithium battery separator project, with a planned annual production capacity of approximately 1 billion square meters. The total investment amount for the project is estimated at about 2 billion yuan, and the funds will be used from the company's own funds and self-raised funds.

Since the beginning of this year, Yunnan Energy New Material has been consistently increasing its overseas production capacity construction plans. Previously announced content shows that in January of this year, the company adjusted its U.S. project to 14 lines with an annual capacity of 0.7 billion square meters of lithium battery coating separator production line; the first phase of the Hungarian base is in the customer verification stage. In June, the company announced plans to invest in the second phase in Hungary, with a plan to construct 4 fully automatic film production lines and matching coating lines, with a total capacity of approximately 0.8 billion square meters per year.

Currently, Yunnan Energy New Material is a leader in wet-process lithium battery separator production, with the world's largest supply capacity of lithium battery separator. The 2023 annual report shows that the company has achieved a designed production capacity of 9.384 billion square meters per year for lithium battery separator. According to Yunnan Energy New Material's response on the interactive platform on August 28th, the company has several top global overseas lithium battery customers such as LGES, Panasonic, French ACC, Ultium, and overseas customer demand is growing, ensuring a high level of future overseas production capacity utilization.

In fact, faced with profit pressure, going global is the inevitable choice for Yunnan Energy New Material. The financial report shows that in the first half of the year, the company achieved revenue of 4.783 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.10%; net profit attributable to the parent was 0.291 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 79.28%. However, in the first half of the year, the company's overseas revenue was 0.959 billion yuan, accounting for 20.04% of total revenue, an increase of 1.96 percentage points compared to the same period last year. According to High-tech Lithium Battery Industry Research, overseas separator prices are more than double those in China, with gross margins reaching 60%-70%. Enterprises seizing the initiative to go global have further established market advantages.

Looking at the lithium battery industry chain, Yunnan Energy New Material's overseas factory construction is not unique, as similar industry peers have been continuously expanding overseas production capacity this year. In July, Sunwoda Electronic (300207.SZ), following investment plans in Hungary and Morocco, announced plans to establish its first consumer battery factory in Vietnam; EVE Energy Co., Ltd. (300014.SZ) plans to invest 3 billion yuan in Malaysia for energy storage battery and consumer battery manufacturing projects; in March, Do-fluoride New Materials (002407.SZ) announced a joint venture with a South Korean company to build lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity in South Korea. EVTank points out that in the future, China's lithium battery industry will gradually shift from being mainly trade-driven to overseas investment and localized development. However, facing a complex global geopolitical and trade environment, in the medium to long term, Chinese battery industry's going global strategy will be challenging.