The “value squat” of lithium investment –ternary precursor material

The growth of the ternary battery market space directly stimulates the simultaneous expansion of upstream materials, and the quality requirements of materials are becoming more demanding. In order to improve product quality, many materials companies have further extended to the upstream. In the recent announcement of ternary materials companies, information on ternary precursor materials investment and trial production has been frequently transmitted.

On June 28, Ganfeng Lithium said on the interactive platform of the panoramic network that the company's 4,500 tons of ternary material precursor project is in the trial production process;

On May 12, GEM said that the precursor products and cathode materials of the company's ternary battery materials are in short supply. The company's Jingmen and Wuxi battery materials projects are also actively planning to expand production capacity to meet market demand;

On May 13, Guangdong Dow Technology Co., Ltd. issued a notice on investing in new energy materials projects, stating that the company will set up a subsidiary as the main body of the project, mainly for lithium-ion power battery ternary precursor materials, lithium ion power battery lithium, Research on recycling and recycling of nickel and cobalt and new energy materials.

The ternary precursor is the main raw material for the manufacture of ternary materials. The production of ternary materials requires the use of an equivalent amount of ternary precursors, which currently account for about 55% of the cost of ternary materials. Previously, domestic cathode material manufacturers generally ignored the production and research and development of ternary material precursors, and most of the manufacturers directly purchased precursors for sintering.

According to industry insiders, the precursor is crucial for the production of ternary materials, because the quality of the precursor (morphology, particle size, particle size distribution, specific surface area, impurity content, tap density, etc.) directly determines the final sintering Physical and chemical indicators of the product. It can be said that 60% of the technical content of the ternary material is in the precursor process.

When the battery was researched in the north of China, Dangsheng and other materials companies also said that the precursor is very important for the production of ternary materials. The ternary precursors currently sold in the domestic market are mainly used in the field of small lithium batteries, and the power is based on ternary materials. Precursors put forward higher requirements. In order to ensure the quality of power ternary materials and pass the test of power battery customers, the company has begun to produce its own precursor materials.

Therefore, whether in terms of cost or product quality control, the investment and development of ternary precursor materials is very promising, which is the reason why companies have recently paid attention to ternary precursor materials.

However, according to media reports, the current commercial ternary precursor is basically a hydroxide coprecipitation method, that is, a mixed solution of nickel, cobalt and manganese, a precipitant, a complexing agent, etc. are simultaneously added to the reaction kettle under certain conditions. A ternary precursor (nickel cobalt manganese hydroxide) is synthesized. The internal structure of the reactor and the control process of the synthesis process are very high, that is to say, the threshold of the ternary precursor technology is high. It is understood that many materials companies such as GEM have adopted Japanese patent manufacturing technology and introduced a full set of Japanese equipment for the production of ternary precursor materials.

The main domestic ternary precursor production enterprises:

Ganfeng Lithium Industry: In 2013, 175 million Yuan was invested in a new ternary precursor material project with an annual output of 4,500 tons. After the annual production of 4,500 tons of new ternary precursor materials, the annual average new sales income will be 346 million, and the annual average net profit will be 37,059,300 Yuan.

Red Star Development: The “Method for Preparing Precursor of Ternary Electrode Material” applied by the company has obtained the invention patent authorization, but the company has not produced the ternary cathode material and precursor of lithium ion battery, but is developing and promoting it as a ternary cathode material. And the basic raw materials (front-end products) of the precursors - high purity manganese sulfate, high purity manganese four oxidation three manganese series products.

Dangsheng Technology: The company is specialized in the research and development, production and sales of lithium anode materials. The main products of the company include lithium anode materials such as multielement materials and lithium cobalt oxide, and precursor materials such as cobalt oxide and multielement precursor materials.

GEM: Taking Jingmen Gome as the main body, it plans to invest 95 million Yuan to build a production line of nickel-cobalt-manganese precursor materials for 3,000 tons of power batteries. At present, the company's ternary material production line mainly produces cobalt nickel manganese precursor materials.

Dow Technology: Recently announced that it plans to use self-raised funds to invest in new energy materials projects. The company will set up a subsidiary with a registered capital of 50 million Yuan as the main body of the project, mainly conducting the recycling and reuse of ternary precursor materials of lithium ion power battery, lithium ion power battery, nickel and cobalt, and new energy materials research. It also said that the company already has the production technology and talent reserve of the ternary precursor.

Cologne Group, Henan: Founded in 1993, the main products of battery materials are spherical nickel hydroxide, spherical iron phosphate, lithium iron phosphate, multi-element lithium battery cathode material, lithium manganate precursor, ternary lithium battery precursor.

Xinxiang Tianli Energy: Established in 1983, the products are exported to Korea, Japan and other countries. At the same time, the power battery ternary materials engineering technology center passed the provincial level certification. The company's main products are nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary materials, nickel-cobalt-manganate ternary precursors, and zinc powder.

Ningxia Oriental Industry: The main products are capacitor grade tantalum powder, capacitor silk, spherical nickel hydroxide and ternary material precursor. The company's 3,000-ton spherical nickel hydroxide project was officially put into operation in 2010. In the first half of 2013, the development of ternary material precursors was completed and has been supplied in small quantities, with an annual production capacity of 2,000 tons.

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