China's lithium industry Development Index reached 307.6 in the fourth quarter of 2021, more than three times that of 2017, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. From a global perspective, China has been the world's largest Lithium Battery consumption market for five consecutive years.
Strong demand for new energy vehicles is one of the main factors fueling the surge in China's lithium industry.
Data from China Automobile Association show that in 2021, the production and sales of New energy vehicles in China will be 3.545 million and 3.521 million respectively, with year-on-year growth of 159.5% and 157.5% respectively, showing year-on-year growth and ending the three-year decline since 2018. Regionally, the sales of new energy vehicles in China will exceed half of the global total again in 2021, while new energy vehicles account for 19.3% of China's overall auto market.
The development of new energy industry drives the demand of lithium battery market. Data show that from January to December 2021, China's power battery output totaled 219.7GWh, up 163.4% year-on-year. The cumulative sales volume of power battery reached 186.0GWh, up 182.3% year-on-year. The total loading capacity of power battery is 154.5GWh, up 142.8% year-on-year.
On the whole, China's power lithium battery industry has entered the key stage of industrialization construction and promotion and application. The industrialization process of power lithium battery has been in an international leading position.
With the development of lithium battery industry in full swing, the supply and demand of upstream raw materials gradually appear dislocation, and the supply growth rate of nickel, cobalt, lithium and other mineral resources is not as fast as the demand growth rate, resulting in the rising price, which still remains high. Cathode and anode materials, electrolyte and diaphragm are also in short supply.
Anode materials, in recent years, the market demand for anode materials is also increasing. The institute estimates that the global demand for power battery anode materials will reach about 1.54 million tons in 2025. Although manufacturers continue to expand production, but capacity release also needs a time process. Beitrui also said before, the current negative market overall supply or partial tension.
Electrolytes, industry bodies expect that by 2025, China's overall electrolyte shipments can reach 865,000 tons, with an average annual growth rate of about 31.7%. In the long term, electrolyte supply will be in tight balance for the next few years after the removal of some of the invalid capacity, despite increasing capacity.
In terms of diaphragm, 3.72 billion square meters of lithium electric diaphragm was shipped in China in 2020, and it is expected that by 2022, the total capacity of wet diaphragm in China will reach 11.55 billion square meters. However, limited by diaphragm equipment capacity supply and expansion cycle, the diaphragm industry will remain tight between 2022 and 2023.
Under the pressure of cost and supply, the reshuffle pattern of lithium battery industry is fierce. At present, the competition between high-end products in China's power lithium battery industry is mainly concentrated between only a few domestic enterprises and foreign enterprises, which belongs to the monopoly competition pattern. As China's policy on power lithium battery products put forward higher requirements, the market share will be further concentrated to the head enterprises.
