Splurging Over 80% of Annual Net Profit on Overseas Factory Construction, Putailai Targets Southeast Asian Lithium Battery Industry Chain

The Paper Shell Finance News (Reporter Lin Zi) Putailai announced a major plan on the evening of March 11: an investment of 2.051 billion yuan to build a lithium battery anode material production base in Kedah, Malaysia, with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons, scheduled to be completed within 24 months.

Just a week ago, Putailai released its 2025 annual report, showing total revenue of 15.711 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.83%; net profit attributable to shareholders reached 2.359 billion yuan, a 98.14% increase year-on-year. Supported by nearly doubling net profit, this leading lithium material company has chosen to allocate over 80% of last year’s net profit to overseas capacity expansion.

The announcement revealed that the direct driving force behind this investment is the changing demand from downstream customers. In recent years, Chinese automakers such as BYD, Neta, and Great Wall have accelerated their entry into the ASEAN market, while battery manufacturers like CATL and LG Energy Solution are gradually establishing production capacity in Southeast Asia. For upstream material suppliers like Putailai, this presents a practical issue: as automakers and battery factories establish roots overseas, upstream material suppliers must follow suit, or they risk losing existing supply relationships.

Over the past year, Chinese lithium battery material companies have been intensively expanding into Southeast Asia. By 2025, BTR will officially start production of its anode materials in Indonesia; companies like Zhongke Electric and Xinzhoubang have also set up operations in Malaysia, Singapore, and other locations.

“To respond to the capacity deployment and localization needs of downstream core customers in Southeast Asia, this project will enable coordinated domestic capacity to serve the global market once completed,” Putailai stated in the announcement. After completion, the project will enable near-site delivery with the company’s overseas factories, which will not only improve supply stability and response speed but also reduce logistics and transportation costs.

This “full industry chain internationalization” pattern is reshaping how Chinese companies compete in Southeast Asia.

Editor: Yang Juanjuan

Proofreader: Zhao Lin