Shanghai (ZXZC)- SEMCORP Manufacturing USA LLC, a subsidiary of Chinese paper packaging materials manufacturer SEMCORP, will set up a lithium battery separator manufacturing plant in Sideny, Ohio, United States, according to an announcement today released by Yunnan Energy New Materials Co., Ltd. (“Yunnan Energy” or “the company”), the parent of SEMCORP.

Photo credit: SEMCORP

According to the announcement, the project might involve an investment of around $916 million. Under the project, the facilities will be built to feature an annual production capacity of 1-1.2 billion square meters of lithium battery basement membranes, and the supporting coating equipment will be introduced as well.

The company said this investment would help it satisfy the ever-growing demands for lithium separators in the U.S. market, lift operating income and profit, and increase returns to shareholders.

Yunnan Energy added the local production and operation would be conducive to rapidly responding to the demands of the clients in the U.S., expanding its overseas footprints, and is of great importance to the company's globalization process.

The company has already built a lithium battery separator manufacturing base in Hungary.

Earlier this week, Yunnan Energy said its subsidiary, SEMCORP Hungary Korl átolt Felelősségű Társaság, had struck a deal with the France-based Automotive Cells Company, which agreed to purchase 655 million euros worth of lithium battery separators from the former.