Driven by the news of Versarien, that is set to establish a graphene manufacturing base in China, the global bulk and specialty chemicals industry is gaining quite some attention of late. Not to mention, the company’s trading price has also risen by 32.7% – 23.35 points post the course of announcements.
Reports state that Versarien, a global leader in graphene market, has inked non-binding letters of intent (LOI) with China’s Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology Fund, Jinan Innovation Zone Administrative Committee, and Jinan Qing Na Material Technology Co. Ltd., to establish the ‘China-UK Jinan Graphene Industrial Park’ in the Shandong Province, China. The total project cost is estimated to be around GBP 55.0 million.
Sources cite that the initial aim of the project will be to set up a 100,000-sq. foot facility, which will be able to produce and sell Versarien’s state-of-art graphene based products (Versarien’s Nanene few-layer graphene nano-platelets for instance)
Conveying their view on the aftermath of this move, industry experts speculate this joint venture to have a remarkable impact on the regional graphene industry share. Sources further reveal that the presence of abundant graphite mines in China, in tandem with the rising demand for automobiles and electronics have prompted the regional graphene industry players to adopt attractive growth strategies and meet the rising product demand.
Enlisting some details of this deal, sources reveal that, Versarien is expected to provide its IP (intellectual property) and manufacturing know how on a licensed basis, while the other business partners will provide factory & funding for the plant.
Having accomplished its initial aim of setting up 100,000 square foot base, sources reveal that, the company will march ahead with its second stage objective of establishing the “Jinan Graphene Valley”, which comprises a graphene research institute, through which the firm may further pave its way toward developing a world-class base in the Asia Pacific belt.
