Power battery market: lithium hydroxide will replace lithium carbonate

Lithium hydroxide will replace lithium carbonate

High-energy density high-nickel ternary must use lithium hydroxide. With the development of high-nickel ternary cathode materials, the high-nickel ternary materials will be scaled up on power batteries, and the demand for lithium hydroxide will continue to rise. .

Due to the adjustment of subsidy policy, the rising price of cobalt and the pressure of lowering the quality, the application of NCM811 in the field of power battery is accelerating. The demand for high-nickel ternary materials has been urgently required by car companies and battery companies. Since the first quarter of this year, NCM811 materials have been in serious supply.

According to incomplete statistics, currently including BYD, Ningde Times, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, BAK Battery, Yiwei Lithium Energy, Thornton New Energy, Far East Foster, Penghui Energy, Wanxiang 123, Kain New Energy, Battery companies such as Xiongtao and other companies, as well as Shanshan, Dangsheng Technology, Changyuan Lithium, Ningbo Jinhe, Tianjin Bamo, Xiamen Tungsten, Tianli Lithium and other materials companies are actively deploying high nickel 811.

Ningbo Jinhe and a technician said that because the high nickel ternary required temperature cannot be higher than 800 degrees during sintering, when lithium carbonate is used as the positive electrode material, too low sintering temperature will cause incomplete decomposition, resulting in excessive alkalinity. The sensitivity to humidity is enhanced, which affects battery performance, so lithium nickel must be used for high nickel ternary. NCA and NCM811 must use battery-grade lithium hydroxide, while NCM622 and NCM523 can use either lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate.

In addition, the use of lithium hydroxide as a ternary positive electrode material, the product usually has better performance. The first discharge capacity can reach 172mAh / g, and has a better tap density, and a higher rate of charge and discharge performance.

Under the trend of high nickelization of power batteries, the demand for lithium salts is gradually shifting from lithium carbonate to lithium hydroxide, and lithium hydroxide has become a trend instead of lithium carbonate.

Lithium salt leader Tianqi Lithium said that high-nickel ternary lithium batteries with battery-grade lithium hydroxide as raw materials will gradually become the mainstream of market demand in 2019. By 2026, the average annual growth of battery-grade lithium hydroxide will reach 47%.

Mainstream companies accelerate production expansion

A lithium salt company told reporters that lithium battery is the main application area of lithium hydroxide, accounting for about 70%. With the 811-type ternary battery starting to increase this year, it will drive demand for lithium hydroxide.

In order to seize the high nickel high point, according to the reporter, many companies expanded the production capacity of lithium hydroxide in 2018, in order to seize more market share.

At present, Tianqi Lithium has a lithium salt capacity of 34,000 tons/year, including 0.5 million tons of lithium hydroxide and 29,000 tons of lithium carbonate. In 2018, Tianqi Lithium will vigorously promote capacity expansion, including the project of 20,000 tons of lithium carbonate in Suining, the construction of a total of 48,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate in Australia, the continuous implementation of technical transformation of the SheHong base and the Zhangjiagang base. It is estimated that by the end of 2019, the total capacity of lithium chemical equipment in Tianqi Lithium Industry will reach 110,000 tons/year, of which nearly 53,000 tons are battery-grade lithium hydroxide and 53,000 tons are battery-grade lithium carbonate.

Tianqi Lithium Industry Co., Ltd. said that it will increase its lithium hydroxide capacity, which is already in the world's leading quality position, to match the needs of high-end customers, and to continue to meet the personalized needs of downstream customers, and to provide high-quality, cost-competitive lithium product protection, oriented to optimize customer satisfaction and long-term relationships. The first phase of the lithium hydroxide project invested by Tianqi Lithium in Australia is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018, and the project progress of capacity climbing in 2019 will remain unchanged.

Ganfeng Lithium previously said on the interactive platform that the company's 2017 lithium carbonate production and sales volume was 17,000 tons, lithium hydroxide production and sales volume was 8,000 tons, and metal lithium production and sales volume was 1600 tons. In 2018, an annual output of 20,000 tons of lithium hydroxide project and an annual output of 17,500 tons of lithium carbonate project will be added. The project has been completed and is currently in the trial phase.

In February, Xinhaiyi announced that the company or the company's designated entity intends to invest another 500 million Yuan to carry out in-depth cooperation with the Australia-Australia Fund. 300 million Yuan will be used to build a spodumene mining and processing plant in Canada. After the completion of the mining plant, it is expected to reach an annual processing capacity of 1 million tons of rough stone; 200 million Yuan will be used to build a domestic 2.05 million tons of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide processing plant, among them 17,000 tons of lithium carbonate and 0.35 million tons of lithium hydroxide. The factory is scheduled to start in the second and third quarters of 2018 and will be completed before the end of 2019.

In April, the first 13,000-ton production line of the 40,000-ton lithium salt project of Zhiyuan Lithium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guangdong Weihua Co., Ltd., was put into operation. Kailin Yao, general manager of Zhiyuan Lithium Industry, said that the first phase of 13,000 tons includes 8,000 tons of battery grade lithium carbonate and 5,000 tons of lithium hydroxide. This year's lithium salt production will reach 9,000 tons.

According to the announcement of the Yahua Group, according to the construction plan, the company will expand production capacity of 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate (lithium hydroxide) in two phases. At present, the company owns 6,000 tons of lithium hydroxide capacity of Xingsheng Lithium Industry Co., Ltd., and has a capacity of 5,000 tons of lithium hydroxide and 7,000 tons of lithium carbonate from Guoli Lithium Salt, with a total capacity of 18,000 tons. After the completion of the first phase of expansion, the company will have a lithium salt production capacity of 38,000 tons.

Yahua now has 11,000 tons of lithium hydroxide capacity. In 2018, Yahuan Group's lithium hydroxide capacity will reach 22,000 tons. By the end of 2019, it will reach 32,000 tons.

Nanshi lithium battery Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nanshi Industrial Co., Ltd., which was established on January 5, 2017. It is mainly engaged in the research and development of high-value-added products such as lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and its bismuth, antimony and potassium production and sales, etc. The company's strategic plan is to produce 40,000 tons of lithium carbonate and 10,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year.

Ruifu Lithium will produce 10,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate per year in the third quarter of 2018. Currently, Ruifu Lithium is preparing to build an annual output of 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate production line, a total of 58,000 tons of lithium carbonate and 10,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, which is expected to reach within 12 months.

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