According to industry sources, lithium battery prices will continue to decline in the second half of the year, and the production of four key materials such as separators and electrolytes will be overcapacity. New projects are still underway, and the price war for lithium battery materials will continue. The development of high-end products is only The future of business.

"The price of lithium batteries is expected to go lower in the second half of this year, as the prices of lithium battery's entire industry chain are falling." said Yu Qingying, chairman of China Battery Network.

Overcapacity has become a reality and new capacity is still in progress“Lithium battery material manufacturers are being squeezed by international material companies on the one hand, and on the other hand they are facing price disorder competition triggered by excess capacity. Among them, lithium iron phosphate materials are particularly serious, and their capacity utilization rate is only below 10%. Zhang Xiaofei, a senior engineer at Lithium Battery, once said.

In 2012, the lithium-ion battery electrolyte production in China was approximately 24,000 tons, and the consumption of lithium hexafluorophosphate was 3,000 tons. At present, the capacity utilization rate of lithium hexafluorophosphate is less than 10%; in 2012, the total output of cathode materials for lithium batteries of domestic-funded enterprises was 43,000 tons, and the current number of enterprises reached 195. Among them, nearly 30 companies of lithium iron phosphate materials are in the state of production shutdown; in 2012, the shipment of anode materials was about 2.8 tons, while in 2012, the production capacity of negative materials such as artificial graphite, natural graphite, and mesocarbon microspheres was at least 45,000. t; In 2012, the total output of domestic lithium battery separators was 180 million square meters, while the current domestic production capacity is at least 200 million square meters.

Dadongfang's 60 million square meter lithium battery isolation membrane project is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2013. Xingyuan Materials, Griyn, etc. also have their own new capacity plans; Pudong will have 1,000 tons of new lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity in the second half of 2013. Sichuan Airlines Group increased capital of RMB 35 million from Sichuan Keeneng Lithium Electric Co., Ltd. to build a lithium iron phosphate anode material project with an annual output of 6,000 tons. The project will be completed and put into production in 2014; Chengdu Xingeng New Material Co., Ltd. will invest in a phase 1 project The project of 3,000 tons of negative electrode materials and 2,000 tons of positive electrode material production lines will be officially put into operation at the end of September.

This overcapacity has led to competition in the price of battery materials, which has led directly to a drop in the gross profit margin of material suppliers and reduced profitability. Therefore, in order to reduce production costs, large-scale manufacturers have continuously expanded their production capacity, exacerbated industry competition, and thus formed an industry-wide Vicious circle.

Avoid redundant construction and take the middle and high end productsLi Yunfeng, deputy general manager of Fluoride, once stated that under the situation of new capacity in domestic electrolyte companies, in particular, low-level redundant construction must be avoided, causing hidden risks of excess capacity.

      Yu Qingjiao, chairman of China Battery Network, said that the current domestic lithium battery materials are on the project, but the final exit still need to go to the high-end products.

Lithium battery prices fell by 56% in the first half of the year, driven by the lower prices of raw materials, "from the lithium ore to lithium battery four key raw materials, and then to the battery company, the price of the entire industry chain is declining, the price of the battery core is mainly affected by the raw materials Pulling prices down,” said Yu Qingjiao, chairman of China Battery Network.

In the first half of this year, although the demand for lithium batteries for 3C products, electric bicycles, and exportable electric toys has been steadily increasing, according to statistics from Gaogong Lidian, the total sales revenue of Chinese domestic lithium battery cores in the first half of 2013 was 15.2 billion yuan. The year-on-year increase of 21%. It is expected that the output value of lithium batteries in China in 2013 will be 32.8 billion yuan;

Under the momentum of rapid growth in demand, the price of lithium batteries was reversed. In Puritanism, it was stated that "the average price of lithium battery cells dropped significantly in the first half of this year, especially for batteries in the middle and high-end markets."

Muke Ke, chief analyst of Real Lithium Research, basically agreed with the above view, saying that the price of lithium batteries in 2011 was about US$800/KWh, which fell to US$400/KWh at the end of 2012, and the price is expected to be between US$350-400/KWh in the first half of this year. , a decrease of nearly 56% from 2011.

In the first half of the year, lithium batteries failed to achieve volume and price, and the price of electrolytes, cathode materials, anode materials, and separators in their key materials were affected by varying degrees of decline. In Puritanism, the first half of the year compared to last year, the diaphragm material The price will drop by about 10%-15%, the cathode material price will drop by about 20%, the anode material will drop by about 10%, the electrolyte price will also go down, and the price of the key raw material electrolyte will drop by about 10%-20%."

In recent years, the lithium battery industry has been favored, and domestic companies have been in the new lithium business, resulting in excess capacity. In the second half of this year, the price of lithium batteries will fall back to the full, making lithium batteries return to a normal price, which may promote the sales of lithium batteries.