Tesla proposed that "reducing cobalt and increasing nickel" high nickel has become a strategic location

On May 30th, the GEM ushered in the biggest IPO in nine years-the Ningde era. As a unicorn in the lithium industry, since the news of the preparation for listing in the Ningde era was disclosed, his every move has attracted the attention of the world. It is reported that in the era of Ningde, the IPO price was 25.14 yuan/share, and it was issued on the 30th. It was proposed to issue no more than 217 million shares, raise funds of 5.462 billion yuan, and the total share capital after issuance did not exceed 2.172 billion shares.

On the day of the online road show, Cengyu, chairman of the Ningde era, answered the battery development and production situation. He said that the company has now mass-produced three yuan 622 power lithium batteries, added Panjian, vice chairman of the Ningde era. The company has a wealth of technology reserves in high-density battery technology and processes, while actively and continuously tracking and promoting global cutting-edge power battery technology, in 811, lithium metal batteries and Silicon carbon negative electrode, etc.. There are different stages of development from mass production preparation to basic technology development.

Coincidentally, just two days ago, when the company announced on the evening of the 28th, the company and the Li Jinkeyuan management committee signed a cooperation agreement in Beijing today. The two sides plan to jointly build a lithium electric and new materials industrial base in Jinkeyuan. The first phase of the project plans annual production capacity. 50,000 tons, plans to invest 3 billion yuan. It is divided into three phases. The company said that the deployment of lithium new materials industry bases in advance will help the company quickly convert its technological advantages into industrial advantages and expand the sales of high-nickel power products.

Similarly, on the evening of May 27, Smart Energy announced that the company had held an investor communication meeting in Futian District, Shenzhen, and told investors that due to its high energy density and high subsidy quotas, the high-nickel 811 material will become a power. Battery will become an important development trend in the future. It is understood that smart energy began to develop high-nickel 811 battery products in 2014. In recent years, it has been matched with the vehicle factory. It is currently one of the few companies that can mass-produce cylindrical 811 high-nickel batteries. Its 2600-2900 mA products have begun to use high-nickel 811 materials, and a small number of shipments have been made last year. In March this year, bulk shipments were achieved. It is expected that from the third quarter of 2018, all digital products will use high nickel 811 materials, and it is expected that 50 batteries will use high nickel 811 materials throughout the year.

For the future development of power cells to high nickel is already a fact, under the pressure of high cobalt prices, many downstream terminal manufacturers began to reduce cobalt strategy. In early May, Tesla proposed "reducing cobalt and increasing nickel", which significantly reduced the cobalt content in the battery while increasing the nickel content of the battery. According to the latest Bloom berg news, the head of business for Panasonic said it was developing non-cobalt car batteries and planned to meet its target for zero cobalt in the near future. Kenji Tamura, head of Panasonic's car battery business, told analysts at a telephone conference that the company had significantly reduced its use of cobalt, Reuters reported.

As a nickel with stable prices and far below cobalt, it is a good alternative to cobalt batteries. According to relevant data, on May 29, Jinchuan Group's electrolysis nickel(large board) quotation in Shanghai was significantly increased by 2,400 yuan/ton to 112,200 yuan/ton. Industry insiders said that this was due to insufficient supply and increased demand, supporting nickel prices further higher. In the medium and long term, high nickelization of power batteries will become an important driving force for the upward price of nickel.

According to the research of Minsheng Securities, the increase in energy density of power batteries and the increase in cobalt prices have driven the demand for high-nickel ternary materials. The high nickelization of new-energy ternary batteries has become a trend, and power batteries will become an emerging force that promotes the growth of nickel demand. Domestic nickel sulfate production is expected to reach 500,000 tons in 2018.

Nickel prices have opened the way to a rise just as cobalt power cells have soared as new energy vehicles have increased. According to the latest(May 31) price of SMM, the average price of electrolysis nickel was 1,13725 yuan/ton, which was the highest in nearly three years.

However, although companies have begun to compete for the "strategic highlands" of high nickel, it is currently impossible for high nickel to completely replace cobalt, such as Tesla, which has embarked on a "cobalt reduction strategy" in full swing. Although batteries containing fewer cobalt models have been used, each car produced by Tesla still consumes about 4.5 kilograms of cobalt. (Data from Bloom berg News). Therefore, due to the complexity of high nickel technology, it is very unlikely that cobalt containing batteries will be completely replaced by other technologies.

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