(Yicai) March 22 -- Wazam New Materials, a Chinese supplier of copper-clad laminates, a basic material for printed circuit boards, announced it plans to invest up to USD60 million to build a factory in Thailand.

Wazam will establish a wholly-owned project company in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi, Thailand, responsible for the investment and construction of the CCL plant, the Zhejiang province-based firm announced yesterday, without revealing any further details.

The project is pending approval from regulatory authorities of both China and Thailand, Wazam said.

Building a plant in Thailand will help Wazam establish a main overseas supply capacity, better meet the demand from international customers, and create an alternative channel to respond to the potential adverse impact brought by fluctuations in the macroeconomic environment and changes in global trade relations, the firm noted.

Wazam is one of China’s major CCL suppliers. In 2022, it sold nearly 23.6 million CCL sheets, achieving revenue from such business of CNY2.5 billion (USD346 million), accounting for about 76 percent of its total revenue that year, according to the company’s 2022 annual report.

Wazam [SHA: 603186] was trading down 0.7 percent at CNY26.11 (USD3.61) as of lunch break in Shanghai today. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4 percent.

Editor: Futura Costaglione