On July 31, Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (ticker 688005) disclosed that its 18th board meeting on July 29 approved the plan to invest in the Xiantao 300,000 t/y integrated sodium-ion cathode project, and that the company and its intended subsidiary Hubei Ronbay Sodium New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. Had recently completed signing the project investment contract with the Xiantao High-tech Industrial Development Zone Administrative Committee; both SMM and Hubei Daily reported the signing ceremony took place on July 30. The announcement puts total investment at about RMB 4.723 billion, including about RMB 4 billion of fixed-asset investment and RMB 723 million of working capital, with about RMB 936 million needed for Phase I; funding sources are about 20% self-owned funds, 43% bank loans and 37% other self-raised funds.
It is necessary to separate the milestones: the project is currently at “board approval plus completed contract signing,” both accomplished facts, while “300,000 t/y” is planned capacity to be built in three phases (50,000, 100,000 and 150,000 t/y), with an expected overall construction period of 24 months and Phase I expected to run from August 2026 to May 2027; Phase II and III timelines depend on each phase’s start. The announcement warns that the project still requires filing, EIA, safety assessment, energy review, construction planning permits and construction permits, with risks of delay, change, suspension or termination; it also lists funding, market and capacity-absorption, technology-iteration and contract-performance risks. The announcement adds that Ronbay has built 18,000 t/y of NFPP sodium cathode capacity to date, of which the 12,000 t/y converted line at Guizhou Xinren is in stable mass production and the 6,000 t/y Xiantao pilot line has been built with process and equipment validation completed; that existing capacity must not be conflated with the newly planned 300,000 t/y.
A July 31 Hubei Daily report further cites a local estimate of about RMB 7.8 billion in annual output value at full capacity, and quotes Ronbay chairman Bai Houshan on building a sodium-ion industrial cluster in Hubei and a Phase II target of 500,000 t/y, and mentions an earlier supply arrangement with CATL for sodium cathode powder. Those figures and remarks are media and executive-level statements, subject to the company’s formal disclosures.
Investors should distinguish the accomplished facts, planned capacity and the previously built 18,000 t/y, rather than treating planned capacity as actual supply.