On 10 May, Zhongke Electric announced that the first phase of its subsidiary Zhongke Star City’s integrated lithium-ion battery anode material base in Oman has officially commenced full construction in the Sohar Free Zone. Civil engineering works are now fully underway, marking the formal start of the project’s fast-track phase, with equipment installation, commissioning, and start-up to follow in tightly coordinated stages.
The project carries a planned total investment of up to RMB 8 billion (~US$1.18 billion) and is designed to produce 200,000 tonnes per annum of lithium-ion battery anode materials. It will be built in two parts, each with 100,000 tpa of planned capacity and an estimated 36-month construction cycle. The first stage of Phase 1 capacity is scheduled to be progressively commissioned during 2027.
Notably, to prioritise the Oman project, Zhongke Star City has decided to defer its planned 100,000 tpa Morocco anode material base. Oman has now become the company’s critical global new energy positioning play.
Why Oman?
The first advantage is capacity scale. As new energy vehicle technology continues to advance, global demand for anode materials is set to keep climbing. The industry expects global EV sales to exceed 50 million units by 2030, with corresponding power battery installations of more than 3,000 GWh and cumulative global energy storage installations of over 1,500 GW — driving explosive growth in anode demand.
On current industry benchmarks, producing 1 GWh of lithium battery requires approximately 1,250 tonnes of anode material. By that calculation, 200,000 tonnes of anode material would support around 160 GWh of cells — a scale well-suited to overseas market demand.
The second advantage is geography. Oman’s main ports open directly onto the Arabian Sea, offering inherent advantages in regional logistics security, energy export corridors, and global supply chain stability. Its integrated “port + industry + free zone” development model also provides significant flexibility on foreign investment access, long-term land use, tax arrangements, and foreign exchange flows.
The Oman project is the inevitable outcome of the lithium battery industry’s push offshore. In recent years, the anode materials sector has been mired in overcapacity and price wars, with most companies still operating around break-even for much of 2025. Building overseas capacity and expanding international markets has become one of the few viable routes to restore profitability.
Several peers are pursuing similar strategies. In March, Putailai announced it would invest in a 50,000 tpa anode project in Malaysia through its wholly owned offshore grandchild company Zichen Malaysia. Shanshan Inc. is visibly accelerating its overseas push — its 100,000 tpa integrated anode project in Finland has cleared its key environmental approval and is ready to break ground. BTR’s Phase 1 of its 160,000 tpa Indonesian anode project was actually commissioned two years ago.
Zhongke Star City is not the earliest mover, but in an industry where overseas expansion has become universal, the larger production scale will help reinforce its global supply capability and further consolidate its industry position.
Note: All CNY figures converted to USD at an approximate rate of 1 USD = 6.79 CNY as of 16 May 2026.
Source: Shimo Shixun (石墨时讯), “20万吨负极项目开工”, republished via WeChat, 11 May 2026.
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