Asia Tech Wire (Aug 7) -- Chinese company BTR New Material Group inaugurated a lithium battery anode materials factory it invested in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government announced on Wednesday the inauguration of a lithium battery anode materials production base, which BTR and Singapore's Stellar Investments jointly financed and built in Indonesia.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended the inauguration of the plant, which has an annual capacity of 80,000 tons.

Under an agreement signed by the two companies in 2022, the first phase of the project amounted to an investment of $478 million.

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, said he expects BTR to start construction of the plant's second phase with an additional investment of $299 million in the fourth quarter of this year, which will double annual capacity to 160,000 tons upon completion.

The Indonesian plant will supply diverse anode materials for electric vehicles, consumer batteries, and energy storage systems, BTR said.

According to a press release, BTR's Indonesian plant is "the largest anode production site outside China."