Recently, the localization rate of China's lithium battery materials has exceeded 90%!

The four major materials in China maintained rapid growth, and the localization rate continued to increase. The localization rate of anode materials and electrolytes exceeded 98%, and only a small amount relied on imports.

According to data from TGII, the production of cathode materials in China was 210,000 tons in 2017, up 29% year-on-year; the output of anode materials was 146,000 tons, up 24% year-on-year; the output of separators was 1.44 billion square meters, up 33% year-on-year. Electrolyte production was 110,000 tons, an increase of 24%. The growth of the four major materials exceeded 20%, thanks to the rapid growth of domestic power battery production and sales. According to GGII data, China's power battery shipments in 2017 were 44.5GWh, a year-on-year increase of 44.5%.

The diaphragm production increased the fastest among the four major materials. In the five years from 2013 to 2017, the annual compound growth rate of domestic diaphragm production exceeded 50%, which is the fastest growing material among the four major materials, because the diaphragm used by domestic battery manufacturers in 2013 and before was heavily dependent on imports, 2013. At the beginning, many domestic diaphragms began to enter the market, and domestic diaphragms opened the way for import substitution. In addition to replacing imports, in 2014, Star Source Materials officially entered the LG supply chain, and domestic diaphragms began to be exported to Japanese and Korean battery companies in batches. Therefore, domestic diaphragms maintained rapid growth driven by the growth of import substitution and export.

The growth rate of cathode materials ranked second. In 2017, the growth rate of cathode materials was higher than that of anodes and electrolytes. In addition to the sharp increase in domestic power battery production, China's cathode materials exports continued to grow, especially lithium cobalt oxide. In 2016, foreign cathode materials companies began to reduce the production of lithium cobalt oxide, and gradually transferred the original demand to China's Bamo, Xiamen Tungsten, Hunan Shanshan, GEM and other enterprises.

According to data from the Institute of High-Technology Research Institute of Lithium and Electricity (GGII), the output value of China's four key materials in 2017 was 62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 65%. The output value of cathode materials accounted for the largest proportion, reaching 71.9%. Among the four key materials, the output value of cathode materials increased the most, mainly due to the increase of electrolytic cobalt in 100% in 2017, and the price of lithium carbonate increased by more than 30%, which caused the price of cathode materials to rise sharply.

The electrolyte is the only product in the four major materials whose output value has declined, because the price of its main raw material, lithium hexafluorophosphate, has dropped from 350,000/ton at the beginning of 2017 to 150,000/ton, causing the price of electrolyte to drop from 7.5 to 85,000/ton. As for 4~55,000/ton, the output value has fallen sharply.

The four major materials in China maintained rapid growth, and the localization rate continued to increase. The localization rate of anode materials and electrolytes exceeded 98%, and only a small amount relied on imports.

The localization rate of the diaphragm is the lowest. The diaphragm used in high-end digital batteries is mainly dependent on imports. The domestic diaphragm basically meets the domestic power battery demand, but limited to the production capacity, there are still domestic power battery companies using imported diaphragms in batches.

The localization rate of cathode materials is 92%. Because some batteries are involved in export, it is preferred to use patented cathode materials such as lithium iron phosphate and ternary materials.

In addition to meeting domestic demand, the four key materials also achieve large-scale export. The performance of domestic materials is constantly improving, and domestic raw materials are abundant in the upstream, such as graphite, manganese and solvents, so they have certain cost advantages.

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