Lithium Grid News: The latest data released by the High-tech Industrial Research Institute (GGII) recently showed that in May 2018, China's new energy vehicle production was about 86,000 units, an increase of 82% year-on-year; in January-May, a total of 315,000 units were produced, a year-on-year increase. 90%. In May of this year, the total installed capacity of China's power battery was about 4.50GWh, a year-on-year increase of 213%. From January to May this year, the total installed capacity of power batteries was about 12.67GWh, up 224% year-on-year.

With the rapid development of China's new energy automobile industry, as a core component related to it, the demand for power batteries has also increased significantly. However, there is also a phenomenon of overcapacity in the power battery market, and prices are declining. Experts said that under the intensified competition, power battery companies began to enter a rapid reshuffle period.

   In-depth cooperation with car companies

   Since the beginning of this year, many power battery companies have frequently reached cooperation with vehicle manufacturers in order to lock in more market share.

On May 2, Nissan announced that it will launch 20 electric models in China in the future. The first pure electric vehicle of Dongfeng Nissan will use the batteries provided by Ningde Times . The relevant person in charge of the Daimler Group also said that the Ningde era will provide Daimler with electric vehicle batteries. Previously, the Ningde era also became a partner of the Volkswagen Group and signed a letter of intent for strategic cooperation with Jaguar Land Rover. At present, the Ningde era has provided batteries for BAIC New Energy, BMW, Geely, Changan, Dongfeng and other car companies, and established a joint venture with SAIC.

BYD plans to seize market share by opening up a shared battery technology platform and seeking cooperation with more car companies. In an interview with the media, Shen Wei, deputy general manager of BYD's lithium battery division, said that the business of the power battery is being divested. It is expected to be split at the end of this year or early next year, and will be considered for independent listing in 2022 or 2023. BYD has docked with major automakers such as Great Wall, Beiqi and Guangzhou Automobile. It is expected that some of the batteries will be sold as soon as this year. Previously, BYD's power battery was for internal use only.

The Korean power battery company also launched a new round of layout in China. South Korean battery company SKI is considering restarting its battery company BESK, which is jointly invested by Beijing Electronics Holdings Co., Ltd. and BAIC Group. BESK announced that it had stopped production in early 2017 due to the decrease in orders.

Power battery companies are also expanding in terms of technology and capacity. According to public information, BYD expects production capacity to reach 26GWh in 2018. Ningde era plans to increase lithium battery production to 50GWh in 2020. Tianjin Lishen's 2020 annual power battery capacity will reach 20GWh. In the end of 2017, Yiwei Lithium will build a square lithium iron phosphate battery, a cylindrical ternary battery and a soft package ternary battery production line. In 2018, it will add a square ternary battery capacity. In 2017, Guoxuan Hi-Tech 's new generation of ternary 622 square aluminum shell battery industrialization and ternary 811 battery, soft pack battery product research and development project progress.

Power battery has been overcapacity

However, with the rapid expansion of production capacity, the domestic power battery industry has also experienced overcapacity, and product prices have shown a downward trend. According to the GGII data of the Institute of Advanced Research Institute of Lithium and Electricity, the price of power battery cells at the end of 2017 fell by 20% to 25% compared with the beginning of 2017. However, the prices of power battery raw materials have not shown a downward trend. This means that power battery companies will bear greater cost and profit pressure. Zhao Baoxing, deputy general manager of Lishen Power Battery System Co., Ltd. once said that as the cost of raw materials continues to rise, and the price of batteries is continuously lowered due to the influence of national policies, the cost pressure of battery companies is huge.

At the same time, due to the subsidies of new energy vehicles, car companies have also passed on the pressure of operating costs to power battery companies. According to the incomplete statistics of the Beijing News reporter, in 2017, among the 18 power battery companies, Mengshi Technology, Xiongyi, Duofuo, Xingyuan Material, Anda Technology, Tianci Materials, BYD, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Bikang The growth rate of the 9 companies in the stock market slowed down and the net profit declined significantly. A number of companies mentioned in the announcement that the decline in profits was affected by the adjustment of subsidies for new energy vehicles.

Increasingly fierce competition is also exacerbating the industry's reshuffle and further increasing industry concentration. The data shows that in 2017, the total installed capacity of China's new energy vehicle (EV+PHEV) power battery is about 36.24GWh. Among them, the top 10 power battery companies with total installed capacity totaled about 26.22Wh, accounting for 72.3% of the total. According to Liu Yanlong, secretary general of the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association, from 2015 to 2017, the number of power battery related supporting enterprises has dropped from 150 to 100. This means that one-third of the power battery companies have been out.