容百科技将韩国忠州6.7万吨高镍正极厂出租给实控人关联方AKB以规避美国OBBBA供应链限制，并完成首批北美出口

Chinese cathode materials manufacturer Ronbay will lease production facilities at its plant in Chungju, South Korea, to Amco Bay New Energy (AKB). The company changed its business structure to a leasing arrangement after financing difficulties delayed the planned sale of its Korean cathode materials business.
AKB’s major shareholders include Ronbay’s chairman and JAESEEnergy, a subsidiary of Ronbay’s Korean operations. The arrangement is being viewed as an effective workaround to circumvent US regulations.
According to industry sources on Oct. 27, Ronbay disclosed a related-party transaction to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Oct. 22 involving the lease of its Chungju cathode materials plant and production equipment to AKB, along with the transfer of related patents. AKB will lease and operate production facilities owned by Ronbay’s Korean subsidiaries, JAESEEnergy and JAESE Tech.
The lease covers high-nickel nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathode materials facilities with a combined annual production capacity of 67,000 metric tons. These include 60,000 tons of capacity owned by JAESE Tech and 7,000 tons owned by JAESEEnergy. The two companies were established in March following the split of JS Energy. JAESE Tech was assigned to produce cathode materials for markets outside North America, while JAESEEnergy was responsible for supplying the North American market.
The restructuring was prompted by supply chain restrictions under the US One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Ronbay said changes to purchasing requirements by North American customers made it difficult to continue supplying cathode materials to those customers under JAESEEnergy’s existing operating structure starting in October. Facing the risk of a supply suspension, the company transferred production and sales operations to AKB.
Ronbay had originally agreed in March to sell its entire stake in JAESEEnergy to AKB for $97 million. It subsequently planned to transfer JAESE Tech’s Chungju production facilities as well. However, the equity sale stalled after AKB failed to secure the acquisition financing. Ronbay estimated that the funds required to acquire the entire business would exceed $500 million.
With the factory sale delayed, Ronbay devised a leasing arrangement that would allow it to retain ownership while transferring production operations to AKB, avoiding further losses from shutting down existing facilities. Ronbay estimated that suspending operations at the Chungju plant would result in annual losses exceeding 200 million yuan from depreciation, labor costs and other expenses.
AKB was established through a Singapore-based investment entity. Amco Bay Holdings owns 75.1% of the Singapore AKB entity, while JAESEEnergy holds the remaining 24.9%. Bai Houshan, chairman of Ronbay Group, is the registered shareholder of Amco Bay Holdings. Ronbay also classifies AKB as a related company of its actual controlling shareholder.
AKB said on the same day that it had completed its first export of high-nickel NCM cathode materials for US customers following the transition in production and supply operations. It was the company’s first export since its establishment in December 2025. The company has agreed with North American customers on a total supply volume of 60,000 tons, with full-scale deliveries scheduled to begin in January 2027.
AKB also plans to expand production capacity in Chungju. It will build an additional NCM cathode materials plant with annual capacity of 64,000 tons on a 26,000-square-meter site in the city’s foreign investment zone by 2029. Once the expansion is completed, total annual production capacity will increase to 131,000 tons.
“We have completed our first export of cathode materials to North America through AKB and are sourcing precursors from EMT,” AKB CEO Yoo Sang-yeol said. “We will expand precursor supplies from EMT and strengthen our metal cost competitiveness through cooperation with related companies, including Jaeyoung Tech.”