Under the strong market demand, a number of listed companies of lithium battery cathode materials in China reported good results, Beijing Easpring Material Technology Co.Ltd(300073) , Ningbo Ronbay New Energy Technology Co.Ltd(688005) and so on. On January 26, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) released the performance express for 2021, which showed that the company achieved a revenue of 15.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 94.7%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 555 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 121.5%.
In 2021, the sales volume of lithium cobaltate products of the company continued to improve, benefiting from the increase of terminal demand, and the sales volume of ternary materials increased year-on-year. Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) the relevant person in charge told the reporter of Securities Daily, “at present, our production capacity has been put into full operation. In order to meet the demand of downstream orders, we ‘don’t close’ and continue to work overtime during the Spring Festival.”
On January 26th, a reporter from securities daily visited Haijing base, a 40000 ton lithium battery material investment project, and learned that the project is expected to be fully put into operation by the end of 2022.
cathode material factory accelerates production expansion
According to trendforce Jibang consulting, by 2025, the global demand for cathode materials for power lithium batteries will exceed 2.15 million tons. With the addition of energy storage, consumer electronics and other fields, the demand for cathode materials may exceed 3.6 million tons.
Therefore, relevant lithium battery listed companies have set off a wave of fund-raising and production expansion. According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 50 lithium battery cathode material expansion projects in China in 2021.
As a leader in cathode materials, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) raised about 1.4 billion yuan through IPO last year to invest in the industrialization project of lithium battery materials with an annual output of 40000 tons.
Next to the Jiulongjiang Estuary in Haicang District, Xiamen, the reporter of Securities Daily saw that the original Zhongda steel and the surrounding 300 mu land mass have now taken on a new look, and a new modern electrochemical lithium battery material production base has sprung up – Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) Haijing production base, a listed fund-raising project.
The total investment of the project is 1.848 billion yuan. According to the plan, the project will achieve the goal of annual output of 40000 tons of lithium battery materials within this year. At present, the company’s phase I 10000 ton project has been put into operation and the capacity is saturated, and the phase II 20000 ton project is under commissioning and production, which is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2022.
Although the Spring Festival is approaching, at the moment Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) the machines in the new factory roar, and the staff still operate the production in an orderly manner. Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) the relevant person in charge told the reporter of Securities Daily that due to the strong demand at the downstream end and the saturation of the company’s production capacity, even during the Spring Festival, it is necessary to work overtime to meet the demand of downstream orders.
According to the latest research of SMM, due to the hot orders, nearly 80% of the large factories producing ternary materials and precursors choose normal production during the Spring Festival, and will maintain a high opening rate in February to meet the demand of downstream power orders.
The above-mentioned relevant person in charge said, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) in addition to Haijing base, the company also has four production bases in Haicang, Sanming and Ningde. At present, the production capacity is saturated.
lithium cobaltate and ternary “seamless switching”
Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) although it was just listed in August 2021, the company has long been a veteran in the cathode material industry. The company, formerly known as the battery materials division under Xiamen Tungsten Co.Ltd(600549) , began to engage in the R & D, production and sales of lithium-ion battery cathode materials as early as 2004. It is one of the first enterprises to enter the lithium battery cathode materials industry in China.
It is rumored in the industry that power battery dark horse China Innovation Airlines benefited from the Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) brand blessing and finally successfully entered GAC suppliers; The early Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) also benefited from the brand strength of Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) at the B end.
Whether developing pure electric vehicle or hybrid electric vehicle, battery is the key energy supply equipment, and battery cathode material is one of the fundamental factors determining battery performance. Therefore, the production and research of raw materials of new energy power battery is an important basis for the development of new energy power vehicle.
It is reported that Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) main products include lithium cobalt oxide, NCM ternary materials and lithium iron phosphate. Among them, the market share of the company’s lithium cobalt oxide products is nearly 50%. With the increase of production capacity, NCM ternary material business will enter the stage of accelerated development, and will promote the construction of lithium iron phosphate industrial base in Sichuan.
However, some market views even believe that Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) got up early in the morning but caught the late set. It is clear that it is the “seed player” of the new energy track, but it chose to plunge into 3C and was delayed. Is this really the case?
According to the latest financial report released by the company, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) the performance doubled in 2021. It is worth mentioning that due to the explosive demand in the downstream, at the end of 2021, Xiamen tungsten Xinneng proposed to invest another 990 million yuan to expand production in Haijing base, and plans to build an additional 30000 tons of high nickel ternary cathode material project for power batteries.
“In terms of production technology, our lithium cobalt oxide production line and ternary material production line have realized seamless switching.” The above Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) relevant person in charge disclosed that in the future, the company will further reasonably allocate the production line according to the market demand.
Guotai Junan Securities Co.Ltd(601211) analysts told the Securities Daily that in 2021, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) capacity utilization was saturated, and the annual sales of cathode materials were expected to exceed 70000 tons; With the gradual launch of production capacity, 110000 tons of production capacity can be formed by the end of 2022, and the sales volume is expected to reach 90000 to 100000 tons in 2022.
“high voltage ternary” finds another way
Boosted by the demand for new energy vehicles, the price rise of upstream raw materials continued to soar. In 2021, the cost of automobile power battery increased significantly due to the sharp fluctuation of the price of metal raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium. For the new energy vehicle industry chain, the cost of cathode materials accounts for the largest proportion in power batteries.
Insiders told the reporter of Securities Daily that at present, raw materials are still in the stage of large cyclical rise, and there is no sign of inflection point in the short term. Under the continuous cost pressure, it is expected that hybrid electric vehicles will be listed in 2022.
Recently, the price of nickel as an upstream raw material has continued to rise, and the price of nickel has reached a ten-year high. According to the statistics of Tonglian data, the price of Shanghai nickel futures has increased by about 60% in the past three years, and has increased by 18% since the beginning of 2022. In the short term, the tension between supply and demand in nickel city is difficult to ease.
In the case of high nickel price, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) launched high-voltage vehicle ternary materials to obtain orders from major manufacturers and car enterprises. Industry insiders believe that at present, high-voltage ternary materials are “safer and more cost-effective” because of the use of more manganese elements. In this regard, the above Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) relevant person in charge said that in the technical direction of increasing the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, increasing the battery charging cut-off voltage is a very important means.
It is reported that ternary materials can improve energy density mainly by increasing nickel content to make high nickel ternary materials, or by increasing the charging cut-off voltage of low nickel ternary materials to make high-voltage ternary materials. At present, Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) the new production line can be compatible with the production of high nickel ternary materials, low nickel high voltage ternary materials, lithium cobalt oxide and other materials to meet the different needs of downstream materials.
Xtc New Energy Materials( Xiamen) Co.Ltd(688778) also made it clear in the performance express that “due to its obvious advantages in performance, safety and cost, the sales volume of the company’s high-voltage vehicle ternary materials has increased significantly, the scale effect has further appeared, and the profitability has been improved.”
It is reported that high voltage technology refers to improving the lithium removal capacity of materials by increasing the upper limit voltage of ternary positive electrode charging, so as to greatly improve the energy density of batteries. At the same time, because the ternary materials with low nickel, low cobalt and high manganese still maintain high oxygen binding capacity under high voltage, this technology can effectively take into account the safety performance while improving the energy density.
It is reported that at present, the energy density of 5-series high-voltage products on the market reaches 260wh / kg, while the energy density of 6-series high-voltage and low cobalt technology reaches more than 300wh / kg on the premise of further improving the safety performance.
