Xiamen Tungsten New Energy Visual China data map

Xiamen Tungsten New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xiamen Tungsten New Energy", 688778. SH) officially landed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange more than two years ago, and launched its overseas layout last year. The company has set Europe as the first stop of its international business, and is in full swing to promote the "French ternary material project with an annual output of 40,000 tons".

The company announced on May 7 that on May 6, Beijing time, the company signed the "Agreement on the Establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the Battery Industry" with Orano SA, a multinational company in the French energy industry, aiming to strengthen the partnership between the two parties in the production of cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries.

The investment projects involved in the agreement are the framework intentions of both parties, and the specific implementation of the projects is still subject to the review and approval of the Chinese domestic overseas investment management agency and the company's internal decision-making department.

With a history of more than 50 years, the Orano Group, formerly known as the Areva Group, is one of the largest nuclear industry groups in the world and one of the few companies in the field that can provide power companies with all relevant industrial processes, including the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear facilities from extraction and mining to the recovery of recyclable materials to dismantling.

According to the announcement, the two parties will work together to promote the construction of joint venture projects between the two parties, and build a CAM plant (i.e., battery cathode joint venture) controlled by Xiamen Tungsten New Energy and a P-CAM plant (i.e., precursor joint venture) controlled by ORANO respectively.

The two parties will commit to strengthen France's R&D capabilities in new energy materials through the CAM plant and the PCAM plant: On the one hand, the two parties will carry out the establishment, development and cooperation of the French R&D center supporting the CAM plant and the PCAM plant to provide continuous support for the production and process of the products of the CAM plant and the P-CAM plant, meet customer needs, and jointly promote the innovation and development of battery technology; The R&D capacity building of the PCAM factory will establish the future high-end product development capability through technical exchanges and talent training, and enhance the R&D strength and competitiveness of the CAM factory and PCAM factory in the battery field.

In addition, the content of the agreement disclosed in the announcement also includes the recycling of electric vehicle batteries, as well as the recycling of electric vehicle batteries, Reuse recycled materials in PCAM factories to promote technical and commercial cooperation, reduce CO2 emissions, contribute to carbon neutrality, and ensure raw material security: On the one hand, the two parties will cooperate to promote battery recycling and raw material security to achieve the key goals of carbon neutrality, implement circular economy and environmental protection, and on the other hand, the two parties will carry out technical and commercial cooperation to jointly explore business models and market opportunities in the field of battery recycling and raw material security. The combined advantages of PCAM and recycling plants create a full range of services to optimize the final value for customers.

Previously, on May 16, 2023, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy announced that the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy, signed a joint venture agreement with Orano CAM and Orano PCAM on the joint venture of battery cathode materials and precursor joint venture in France, with the initial registered capital of both joint ventures of 20 million euros, of which the battery cathode material joint venture is 51% owned by Xiamen Tungsten New Energy and 49% by Orano CAM The precursor joint venture is 49% owned by Xiamen Tungsten New Energy and 51% owned by Orano PCAM. Both joint ventures are located in the port city of Dunkirk in northern France.

As the company's European business platform, the main business scope is R&D, production and sales of battery materials and the procurement of raw materials. Orano CAM and Orano PCAM are both companies of the Orano Group.

Following the joint venture agreement signed by the two subsidiaries in May 2023, the new agreement aims to continue to promote cooperation between the two parties in the cathode material project of new energy batteries for electric vehicles, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy said. The signing of this agreement is in line with the company's development strategy and is an important measure of the company's overseas layout, which is conducive to accelerating the company's overseas market development progress and ensuring the company's steady and far-reaching development, which is in line with the strategic development interests of both parties.

In the latest 2023 annual report, Xiamen Tungsten New Energy also mentioned that during the reporting period, the company took the five-year strategic plan as the investment guide, took Europe as the first stop of the company's global layout, accelerated the progress of overseas market development, and accelerated the construction of various engineering projects with the development plan and production line demonstration plan of key customers. This includes the establishment of the two joint ventures, which the report says are listed as "40,000 tonnes per annum ternary material project in France".

The controlling shareholder of Xiamen Tungsten New Energy is China's largest tungsten product producer, Xiamen Tungsten (600549. SH), the actual controller is the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Fujian Province, formerly known as the Battery Materials Division of Xiamen Tungsten Industry, which was established in December 2016 to operate independently and become a company specializing in the research and development, production and sales of lithium-ion battery cathode materials. The company officially landed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in August 2021, and its main products currently cover a full range of new energy materials such as lithium cobalt oxide, ternary materials, lithium iron phosphate, and hydrogen storage alloys.

In the past 2023, the revenue of Xiamen Tungsten New Energy will be 17.311 billion yuan, a decrease of 39.79% compared with the same period of the previous year (year-on-year), and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies will be 527 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 52.93%. According to the report, in the context of weak international economic recovery, escalation of geopolitical conflicts, and a significant rise in trade protectionism, the company's overall operating performance has shown certain fluctuations in the context of multiple challenges such as the slowdown in the downstream market, the pressure of destocking in the industrial chain and the fluctuation of raw material prices.

In the first quarter of this year, the company's revenue was 3.299 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.02% compared with the same period last year, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 111 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.71%.