BYD Pours $4.2 Billion Into Jiangxi Lithium Project

What’s new: Chinese carmaker BYD Co. Ltd. plans to invest 28.5 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) in a lithium and battery production project in eastern China’s Jiangxi province.

The investment is part of the electric-car giant’s push to secure more access to the key mineral for car batteries. The funds will pay for a project with capacity to produce 100,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate and ceramic clay per year and a facility to produce 30 gigawatts of car batteries annually, the Yichun city government in Jiangxi said Monday.