Chinese lithium-ion battery producer Jiangsu Pylontech has launched a 5 GWh/yr production plant for lithium-ion battery systems at Yizheng city in southeast China's Jiangsu province.

Construction of the plant, with a total investment cost of 1.5bn yuan ($210mn), is scheduled to be completed in three phases by the end of 2022.

Pylontech is subsidiary of Chinese telecom operator ZTE and mainly produces lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

Another ZTE subsidiary E-Power started operations at a production plant for nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary lithium-ion batteries at Wuhan in central China's Hubei province in November 2018.

Argus assessed the range for 99.5pc grade lithium carbonate — a raw material for LFP batteries — unchanged at Yn42,000-46,000/t ex-works yesterday. Producers held offer prices at around Yn45,000-46,000/t because of narrowing profit margins.

Import prices for carbonate were assessed unchanged from a week earlier at $7-8.50/kg cif China yesterday. China imported 4,825t of carbonate in April, up by 222pc from a year earlier, at an average price of $5.93/kg, according to official customs data.