In 2017, the total output of new energy vehicles in China reached 820,000, an increase of 58% over the same period of last year. The rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market not only led to the layout of a number of vehicle-related industries, but also the battery manufacturers followed the dip, its performance also showed a clear growth trend.

In the first three quarters of 2017, Jiangsu Cathay Pacific, Gan Feng Lithium Industry Co., Ltd. and Pu Tailai Net Profit increased 56%, 109% and 68% respectively. Correspondingly, the stock price of this sector company has entered an ascending channel in 2017, especially Ganfeng Lithium. In 2017, the share price of the company rose more than 1.6 times.

However, with more and more incoming users, many enterprises have experienced radical expansion of production capacity. As a result, the entire battery support industry has also started to face problems of overcapacity and declining gross profit margin. First-tier companies continue to occupy more market share, while the second and third tier companies are facing a crisis to be eliminated, the entire industry may enter the market reshuffle stage.

Total output growth

If the core of traditional cars is the engine, for the new energy vehicles, the "heart" is the battery. A listed car prices insiders told reporters that the battery accounts for nearly one-third of the cost of an electric car. With the fiery market of new energy vehicles, a number of enterprises whose main businesses are new-energy batteries have enjoyed rising profits as the market expands.

In the first three quarters of 2017, net profit of Jiangsu Guotai, Ganfeng Lithium Industry Co., Ltd. and Puretai increased by 56%, 109% and 68% respectively over the same period of last year after analyzing the representative listed companies in the industry. In the Ningde era of IPO, the net profit growth in 1H17 was as high as 86%.

The four companies are currently not involved in vehicle production, which is due to the battery more dependent on electrochemical technology, and OEMs are not strong, so most auto makers do not self-produced batteries, the corresponding, Battery companies are also rarely involved in vehicle production.

The operation of the battery industry is a complex and systematic project. Batteries, motors and electric controls belong to three systems. In addition, the battery management system (BMS) is also a university. This shows that to produce batteries, and make it stable operation is not easy. The battery material selection is more diverse, the current common battery, including ternary material lithium batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, there are a few domestic manufacturers of fuel cells. In addition to various types of lithium battery materials, there are to the main production industry electrolyte companies, such as the new state and so on.

China Automotive Technology Research Center Power Battery Industry Development Fang Kai, director of research has publicly disclosed that in 2017 the total new energy vehicles supporting more than 37 billion g of power, an increase of more than 30%. The battery produced in the year, lithium iron phosphate batteries accounted for 50%, ternary material batteries accounted for 43%, compared with 2016, ternary materials, a significant increase in the proportion of batteries.

In 2017, the domestic battery industry has seen notable changes in both market capacity and number of enterprises. At present, China has overtaken the United States and once again become the world's largest power battery application market. However, despite the rapid growth in total output, the number of supporting enterprises has decreased, there are 150 in 2016 and the number of enterprises in 2017 markedly decreased to less than 100 and the market share tends to be concentrated in large enterprises.

Concentration higher

Behind the decline in the number of companies, in fact, the trend is reflected in the gradual increase in the concentration of the battery industry. In Liu Yanlong has publicly said that in 2017, the industry's top five companies supporting an amount of 22.3 billion watts, the market share of 60.5%; the first 20 companies supporting 32.1 billion watts, accounting for 87%. The first-tier enterprises in the industry gradually erode market share through technical advantages and scale advantages, and the low-end production capacity of second and third tier companies is therefore facing a crisis to be eliminated.

Echoed by Liu Yanlong is that a large number of listed companies through the mergers and acquisitions, capital increase, foreign investment and other ways in the battery industry expansion.

Guoxuan Hi-Tech held a groundbreaking ceremony for the ternary battery project of Qingdao base in May 2017. The project has a total investment of 2 billion yuan and is expected to be put into operation in March 2018. Upon completion, a production scale of 6 billion yuan in output value will be formed.

As a leader in the domestic electrolyte industry, NBS announced in June 2017 that it intends to acquire 100% of BASF's battery materials. This means that the global chemical giant BASF China Electrolyte business is under the control of NNSA. In response, the new state state has publicly said that this is conducive to enhancing the company's electrolyte product production capacity, expand the company's international business electrolyte business.

On December 26, 2017, Jiangsu Cathay Pacific said in a statement that it plans to invest 40,000 tons / year in its lithium-ion battery electrolyte project in Poland. The project will cost 300 million yuan and the construction period will be about 30 months. Jiangsu Cathay Pacific side said that this move can enhance the company's differentiated competitiveness in lithium-ion battery electrolyte business, but also open up markets in other European countries.

Relevant listed companies continue to grow production capacity, but also in line with national development policies. In early 2017, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance jointly promulgated the "Proposal for Accelerating the Development of Automotive Power Battery Industry", which mentioned that by 2020, the total power capacity of China's power battery industry will exceed 100 billion kilowatt hours, forming a production and marketing scale of 40 billion kilowatts Above, with the leading international competitiveness of enterprises. This also means that although the total capacity of the domestic battery industry growth, but the industry concentration will continue to improve, more conducive to the development of large enterprises.