-High nickel rise! Break the situation of CATL's

High nickel rise! Break the situation of CATL's "exclusive supply"! Lithium battery giant Erjin Gong: China's power lithium battery supply chain
author:enerbyte source:本站 click348 Release date: 2023-04-06 09:59:16
abstract:
According to a report by South Korea's Electronic News on the 5th, SKInnovation has signed a battery supply contract with China's electric vehicle company Xiaopeng Motors. It is reported that in July this year, SKI signed a contract with Xiaopeng Automobile, and SKI...

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According to a report by South Korea's Electronic News on the 5th, SKInnovation has signed a battery supply contract with China's electric vehicle company Xiaopeng Motors.

It is reported that in July this year, SKI signed a contract with Xiaopeng Automobile, and SKI will supply high nickel batteries with 80% nickel content. The battery is produced by SKInnovation's Huizhou factory in Guangdong and has already started mass production.

Industry insiders have stated that previously, Xiaopeng Motors had been using batteries supplied by CATL. This cooperation means that SKI has broken the situation of CATL's "exclusive supply" of Xiaopeng Motors and once again entered China's electric vehicle battery supply chain.

Targeting the Chinese market

In March 2017, due to not being included in the battery company directory and unable to obtain subsidies for new energy vehicles, Beijing Electric Control Aisikai Technology Co., Ltd. (SKI holding 40% of the shares) was officially forced to stop production. But at that time, SKI believed that China's commitment to gradually eliminate subsidies for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2020 and increase sales quotas for electric vehicles would be beneficial for the company to expand its market.

Therefore, in 2018, SKI also set its goal for the European and Chinese markets to "increase production by more than 10 times by 2022". In August of the same year, SKI invested 5 billion yuan to build a power lithium battery factory with an annual production capacity of 7.5GWh in Changzhou, Jiangsu.

In April 2020, SKI was selected by BAIC as the battery supplier for the new electric vehicle.

Despite full confidence in the market after the subsidy recession in 2020 and early planning and layout, SKI's supply volume in the Chinese market is still relatively low.

However, it is evident that SKI is still very optimistic about the Chinese market. Since the production of the Changzhou Power Lithium Battery Base last year, less than a year later, SKI has signed a new battery supply contract with Xiaopeng Automobile. Analysts say that Xiaopeng Motors will become a new window for SKInnovation to expand China's battery supply.

Moreover, SKI is not satisfied with having only three major bases in China. According to foreign media reports on September 1st, SKI has decided to invest 1.06 billion US dollars (approximately 6.8 billion RMB) to build its fourth automotive battery factory in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, with a wholly-owned investment. The production capacity will also exceed the existing three major production bases.

It is understood that investment funds will be phased in from this month to December 2024. Considering that SKI's battery business will establish its own portal on October 1st, investment will be initiated after the establishment of a new company.

At present, SKI has three power lithium-ion battery bases located in China, namely Changzhou, Yancheng, and Huizhou. The production capacity of each base is 7GWh, 10GWh, and 10GWh, respectively.

Among them, the joint venture construction between Changzhou Base and BAIC Motor Corporation has been put into operation last year; Yancheng Base, Huizhou Base, and Yiwei Lithium Energy are jointly established.

Note the mention of Yiwei Lithium Energy mentioned above. According to sources, Yiwei Lithium Energy is also in the battery supply chain of Xiaopeng Automobile, and is not considered a "sole supplier" of CATL by the market. Moreover, due to the cooperative relationship between Yiwei Lithium Energy and SKI, there is speculation that this is also one of the reasons for the cooperation between SKI and Xiaopeng.

In addition, there are also views that although CATL is almost the battery supplier for all vehicle manufacturers, the cake cannot be eaten by one company, and vehicle manufacturers also need secondary supply, which is precisely the excellent opportunity for battery manufacturers in the second tier. For Yiwei Lithium Energy and SKI, the same applies. Among these two, the significance of SKI is even more significant, as it sets out again in China's electric vehicle battery market.

Of course, in addition to the Chinese market, SKI is also expanding on a large scale in Europe and North America.

In Europe, SKI's first factory in Hungary began mass production in 2020, with an annual output of 7.5GWh; The second plant is planned to be put into operation in Q1 2022, the third plant will start construction in Q3 this year, and will be put into operation in Q3 2024.

In North America, SKI's US factory plans to produce 55GWh per year. The first plant will be put into operation in Q1 2022, and the second plant will be put into operation in Q1 2023.

In addition, in May this year, reports from Reuters reported that Ford and SKI reached an agreement to jointly form a joint venture to produce products such as batteries and array modules in the United States. It is expected to produce 60GWh of batteries and modules annually after completion.

In terms of production, SKI's overall plan is to increase the production of power lithium batteries to 200GWh by 2025 and exceed 500GWh by 2030.

In terms of supply chain, Chinese battery material companies such as Tianqi Lithium, Dangsheng Technology, Putai Lai, Zhongke Electric, and New Zebang have successively entered the SKI supply chain.

It is worth noting that in addition to batteries, SKI plans to produce approximately 1 billion square meters of separators in South Korea, China, and Poland.

High nickel battery potential

In terms of technical route, SKI is committed to developing high nickel ternary batteries and is the earliest company in the world to achieve mass production of NCM622 and NCM811. In August 2020, SKI announced the successful commercialization of the world's first NCM9 (9/0.5/0.5) battery with a nickel content of 90%.

In the above news, SKI is also supplying Xiaopeng Automobile with its expertise in high nickel batteries. Industry insiders say this is a "warning" signal for the strong return of ternary high nickel batteries.

Although the recent momentum of lithium iron phosphate battery is quite strong, it has a weakness that cannot be avoided, that is, its energy density is low. This goes against the ultra-long range pursued by current car manufacturers and consumers. Multi element lithium batteries have the advantages of high energy density and long range, making them the best companion for long range.

Due to cost and safety issues, ternary batteries have been unpopular for some time, but the market's bullish view on high nickel ternary batteries has never changed. From a cost perspective, as the proportion of high nickel batteries increases, the cost of battery pack materials required per unit GWh battery will decrease, especially the dependence on cobalt sulfate, which accounts for a high proportion of costs, will decrease.

In terms of battery manufacturers, let's first look at CATL, the "Big Brother" of batteries. Its 2020 annual report showed a significant increase in overseas shipments, and the vast majority of its power lithium batteries supplied overseas are high nickel 811 systems.

Yiwei Lithium Energy has laid out high nickel materials multiple times this year, covering both domestic and international markets. The details are as follows:

On the evening of August 9th, Yiwei Lithium announced that the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Targeted Circular Supply of 10000 Tons of Recycled Nickel Products with Greenland. Starting from 2024, Greenland promised to supply Yiwei Lithium with more than 10000 tons of recycled nickel products (including nickel sulfate, ternary precursors, and ternary materials) annually, with a cooperation period of 10 years from the beginning of product supply, And the quantity can be increased and the cooperation period can be extended according to the needs.

On May 23rd, the board of directors of Yiwei Lithium Energy reviewed and approved the proposal to sign a joint venture agreement for the Indonesian Huayu Nickel Cobalt Laterite Nickel Mine Hydrometallurgical Project and provide financial support to the joint venture company, with an annual production of approximately 120000 tons of nickel metal products and approximately 15000 tons of cobalt metal products.

On May 17th, the board of directors of Yiwei Lithium Energy reviewed and approved the proposal to establish a joint venture with Beiteri and SKI, a subsidiary of Yiwei Asia, and determined the annual production capacity of 50000 tons of high nickel ternary positive electrodes.

On January 25th, Yiwei Lithium Energy and Yiwei Holdings jointly invested 1.8 billion yuan to subscribe to the non-public shares of Huayou Cobalt Industry, with the addition of high nickel positive electrode and ternary precursor.

Funeng Technology has recently confirmed that it will purchase 36458 tons of high nickel ternary cathode materials within the next year and a half. On the evening of July 26th, Funeng Technology announced that the company and Rongbai Technology had signed a framework agreement for the procurement of positive electrode materials. In the second half of 2021 and the full year of 2022, Funeng Technology will purchase 5505 tons and 30953 tons of high nickel ternary cathode materials from Rongbai Technology, respectively.

LG energy solutions are "predetermined" in advance to ensure the supply of raw materials. On August 17th, media reported that LG Energy Solutions had signed a 6-year cobalt and nickel supply agreement with an Australian mining company to ensure the stable supply of key raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. If both parties agree, the two companies can extend the term of this cooperation for another 5 years.

In terms of automotive companies, TSLA, as a global leader in electric vehicles, has never changed its fans of nickel batteries.

First, let's take a look at the equipped models. According to Electrek's report on June 2nd, TSLA is about to become the first automaker to use LG energy solutions for new NCMA batteries, which contain up to 90% nickel.

The report states that the new NCMA battery will be used in the TSLA Model Y model produced by Gigafactory in Shanghai.

In addition, Weike Network Lithium Battery noticed that at the 2021 Shanghai International Auto Show, nearly 80 new energy models, including domestic brands, new forces in car manufacturing, foreign/joint ventures, and traditional brands, were unveiled by car companies. More than half of the mid to high-end new energy models have already been equipped or plan to be equipped with high nickel batteries.

Looking at the supply of raw materials, as the world increasingly shifts towards electric vehicles, the demand for nickel is bound to soar. TSLA CEO Musk has repeatedly publicly expressed concerns about future nickel supply as sustainable procurement faces challenges.

According to foreign media reports on July 22nd, Australian mining company BHP Group stated that it has signed a nickel supply agreement with electric vehicle leader TSLA.

In addition, TSLA has reached a series of agreements with mining companies regarding the bulk commodities needed for its battery manufacturing, including a cobalt agreement with Glencore and a nickel joint venture supporting New Caledonia.

Continue to look at the battery route. On July 27th, TSLA held a conference call for the second quarter of 2021 financial reports, during which Musk revealed that TSLA will undergo a transformation in battery composition, similar to using 2/3 of iron phosphate batteries and 1/3 of nickel batteries.

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