Shares in Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) are shooting up in early trade today after the company announced it has expanded its anode materials business in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
At the time of writing, the Novonix share price is up 5%, trading at $2.25.
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What did Novonix announce?
In today's statement, Novonix advised it will fulfil its contractual obligations in purchasing a major new plant. Novonix has plans to retrofit the building, formerly held by Alstom, to become its second facility in Chattanooga.
Once renovations are completed, the plant will produce up to 8,000 tonnes per annum of anode materials. Together with its existing operations at the first plant, Novonix will have total capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year.
The company's new facility will come online by the 2023 calendar year.
Novonix CEO, Chris Burns commented:
We are excited to be announcing this next phase of expansion of our anode materials business in Tennessee.
Chattanooga has been a great location for our operations over the past four years, and we look forward to growing the company in the expanding south-east hub of electric vehicle battery manufacturing.
Novonix also advised that it was progressing with agreements made with Sanyo Electric and Samsung SDI. Both partnerships aim to develop high-purity lithium hydroxide and produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Novonix highlighted that it was well-positioned to meet the growing needs of the battery supply chain in North America. This phase of growth will support the integration of anode materials in lithium-ion battery packs for over 100,000 electric vehicles.
About the Novonix share price
At the start of 2021, Novonix shares accelerated to a record high of $4.23 on the back of positive investor sentiment. The company's share price has risen 75% in the past 6 months, and is up almost 120% since this time last year.
Based on valuation metrics, Novonix commands a market capitalisation of around $865 million, with approximately 404 million shares on issue.
