Proposed construction of a 1.2 billion square meter annual capacity wet-process lithium battery separator (Phase II) project, Cangzhou Mingzhu continues to expand capacity

On the evening of April 1st, Cangzhou Mingzhu (002108) announced that its subsidiary, Cangzhou Mingzhu Lithium Battery Separator Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Mingzhu Lithium”), reached an agreement with Cangzhou Guozi-backed enterprise Cangzhou Mingchuang Lithium Battery Development Co., Ltd., to jointly invest in establishing a joint venture in Cangzhou High-tech Zone to implement an annual production of 1.2 billion square meters of wet-process lithium battery separator project (Phase II).

The announcement shows that the total investment for the project is 1.8 billion yuan, mainly used to build four ultra-thin wet-process separator production lines, supporting coating equipment, production plants, warehouses, offices, and auxiliary facilities, as well as production, testing, environmental protection, safety, and other related auxiliary equipment. According to the agreement, Mingzhu Lithium will contribute 1.26 billion yuan, accounting for 70% of the equity in the joint venture.

According to the plan, the project company will sign equipment purchase contracts in early April 2026, complete land bidding and start construction before the end of May; by the end of April 2027, the main structure of the factory will be completed, and equipment debugging will be finished by the end of December; trial production is scheduled for January 2028.

In fact, market expectations for the investment in this project have already been formed. As early as July 2023, Cangzhou Mingzhu announced plans to build an annual production of 1.2 billion square meters of wet-process lithium-ion battery separator project, with a total investment of 3.5 billion yuan, to be constructed in two phases. The first phase involves an investment of 1.7 billion yuan with a designed capacity of 600 million square meters; the progress of the second phase will be determined separately based on actual conditions. Currently, the first phase is underway, in the equipment installation stage, and will subsequently enter debugging.

Industry insiders said that since the second half of 2025, the lithium battery industry has shown a clear recovery trend, with high-end separator capacity supply and demand remaining tightly balanced. Cangzhou Mingzhu stated that the purpose of this second phase project is to expand the capacity of wet-process lithium-ion battery separators and further enhance the scale effect and market share of separator products.

The reason for choosing to jointly invest with a local state-owned enterprise is that the company believes it can leverage the local government’s resources in the lithium battery market to create favorable conditions for the long-term development of the project.

Cangzhou Mingzhu’s main products include PE pipelines, BOPA films, and lithium-ion battery separators. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company’s lithium-ion battery separator sales volume was about 420 million square meters.

As one of the few domestic separator manufacturers that simultaneously master key processes and equipment technologies for dry, wet, and coated separators, Cangzhou Mingzhu has strong capabilities in custom equipment design, modification, and debugging. The consistency of separator hole formation and the uniformity of longitudinal and transverse performance are among the industry’s best.

As of now, the designed capacity of Cangzhou Mingzhu’s lithium-ion battery separators in operation is 740 million square meters. In addition, the company’s wet-process lithium-ion battery separator expansion project, with a total capacity of 1.3 billion square meters, is under construction, and 300 million square meters of dry-process lithium-ion battery separators are also under development.

In February this year, the control rights of Cangzhou Mingzhu were transferred, with Guangzhou Light Industry and Trade Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Guangzhou Light Industry”) becoming the new controlling shareholder, and the Guangzhou State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) as the actual controller of the company.

To seize industry opportunities and consolidate the control position of the new controlling shareholder, Cangzhou Mingzhu announced a private placement plan in March, proposing to issue shares to Guangzhou Light Industry to raise no more than 1.4 billion yuan, which will be used to supplement working capital. Currently, the above-mentioned matters are progressing steadily.