From Jiangxi Copper Company Limited(600362) , Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co.Ltd(601212) and other copper enterprises have announced their involvement to Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) binding the industry leader’s production capacity of 100000 tons in advance, the copper foil industry has set off a tide of production expansion. According to incomplete statistics by the reporter, 10 enterprises have disclosed plans to expand copper foil production this year, with a total investment of more than 55 billion yuan.
As a functional key basic raw material in the electronic manufacturing industry, electrolytic copper foil is mainly used in the production of lithium-ion batteries and printed circuit boards. It can be further divided into lithium copper foil and standard copper foil according to different application fields. Among them, the downstream of lithium copper foil is lithium-ion battery, which is mainly used in energy storage, electric vehicles and other fields.
“Almost all copper foil manufacturers are full of production and sales, and the recent expansion project of lithium copper foil has also significantly accelerated.” A broker researcher interviewed analyzed that since the second half of this year, driven by the demand for power and energy storage batteries, there has been a strong demand for lithium battery copper foil, especially high-end lithium battery copper foil. Considering the limited output of important upstream production equipment and the overall production expansion progress of the industry, it is expected that the supply-demand imbalance of high-performance lithium battery copper foil will continue until at least 2023.
intensive expansion of industry leaders
On the evening of December 8, Guangdong Jiayuan Technology Co.Ltd(688388) announced that the company signed a memorandum of intent on joint venture investment with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) and planned to jointly establish a joint venture with a registered capital of 500 million yuan in the first phase and a subscribed capital of 400 million yuan, accounting for 80% of the shares. The registered capital of the joint venture can be increased to 2 billion yuan by stages.
According to the memorandum, the joint venture will plan to build a high-performance copper foil project with an annual output of 100000 tons, which will be constructed in two phases. All products produced by the joint venture shall be preferentially supplied to Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) .
According to public data, Guangdong Jiayuan Technology Co.Ltd(688388) as the leader of lithium battery copper foil in China, its 6-micron lithium battery copper foil production capacity has begun to popularize and penetrate, and the 4.5-micron extremely thin high-end lithium battery copper foil has achieved mass production, and the market share of this product ranks in the forefront of the industry. The signing of the memorandum means that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) has bound Guangdong Jiayuan Technology Co.Ltd(688388) 100000 tons of production capacity in advance.
Previously, in November, Guangdong Jiayuan Technology Co.Ltd(688388) announced that it planned to raise no more than 4.9 billion yuan for new high-performance copper foil technology transformation projects with an annual output of 16000 tons, high-performance copper foil projects with an annual output of 15000 tons, high-precision ultra-thin electronic copper foil projects with an annual output of 30000 tons, etc. In the same month, the company also plans to invest and build a high-end copper foil construction project with an annual output of 50000 tons in Meixian County, Guangdong Province.
Another giant of the industry Nuode Investment Co.Ltd(600110) issued a fixed increase plan in June. It plans to raise no more than 2.288 billion yuan to invest in the 15000 ton phase III project in Qinghai and the 12000 ton phase III project in Huizhou. When all of them are completed, Nuode Investment Co.Ltd(600110) will form an annual capacity of 85000 tons of lithium battery copper foil.
In addition, Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co.Ltd(000630) Copper Crown copper foil was approved by the CSRC on December 8 for IPO registration on the gem. Its prospectus shows that the company’s total production capacity of copper foil products is 45000 tons / year. Among them, the production capacity of PCB copper foil is 25000 T / A and that of lithium battery copper foil is 20000 t / A. The company plans to raise nearly 1.2 billion yuan in this IPO for the ultra-thin electronic copper foil project with an annual output of 20000 tons of high-precision energy storage (phase II), high-performance electronic copper foil technology center project, etc.
upstream copper enterprise connection layout
In addition to the intensive expansion of industry giants, upstream copper enterprises have also made great efforts to enter the field of lithium battery copper foil.
Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co.Ltd(601212) on the evening of December 7, it was announced that the company started the cooperative construction of 200000 tons of high-grade lithium battery copper foil project and carried out preliminary work. It is disclosed that the total investment of the project is about 12.15 billion yuan, and the main products are electrolytic copper foil for 4.5 micron and 6 micron lithium batteries.
According to the plan, the construction subject of the project is Gansu Defu new materials Co., Ltd. at present, its electrolytic copper foil production capacity basically has 30000 T / A, and the phase III 40000 t / a project is under construction. By the end of 2022, the production capacity will reach 70000 T / A. The construction of subsequent projects will be promoted as planned. Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co.Ltd(601212) said that the company has an annual production capacity of 200000 tons of cathode copper. The company can give full play to its advantages of copper raw materials and ensure the stability of the project supply chain.
Another copper processing enterprise Zhejiang Hailiang Co.Ltd(002203) announced as early as November 7 that it plans to invest 8.9 billion yuan to build a 150000 ton annual high-performance copper foil material project in Lanzhou (including 120000 tons of lithium battery copper foil and 30000 tons of standard copper foil). The project is constructed in three phases. Among them, phase I is planned to start in 2021, and 25000 tons of capacity will be put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2022. At the same time, the company said that it was actively demonstrating the feasibility of building a 100000 ton copper foil project in Europe, America and Southeast Asia.
It is reported that Zhejiang Hailiang Co.Ltd(002203) has signed procurement contracts for core key equipment such as cathode roller and green foil all-in-one machine with Xi’an Aerospace Source Power Engineering Co., Ltd., and formulated strict delivery dates to ensure that the project is put into operation on schedule.
In July this year, the copper giant Jiangxi Copper Company Limited(600362) announced to cut into the field of lithium battery copper foil and planned to invest 12.8 billion yuan in three projects with an annual output of 100000 tons of lithium battery copper foil, 220000 tons of copper rod and 30000 tons of casting materials. According to its disclosure, the company’s copper foil production line is divided into two parts. One part is conventional copper foil, with a production capacity of 15000 tons / year; The other part is copper foil for lithium battery, with a capacity of 15000 tons / year.
tight supply will continue
Why is the wind of expanding the production of lithium copper foil industry getting stronger and stronger? Tight product supply is the main reason.
Since the second half of this year, driven by the demand for power and energy storage batteries, lithium copper foil has been in short supply, and the product price has continued to rise. Data show that as of November, the average price of battery grade copper foil in China was 123.5 yuan / kg, an increase of nearly 25% over the beginning of the year.
It is reported that lithium battery copper foil manufacturers mainly quote downstream lithium battery manufacturers in the form of “copper price + processing fee”. Industry insiders said that the copper foil processing fee began to rise since December last year. Before the Spring Festival, the processing fee of 8 microns and 6 microns increased by more than 15%. By April, the processing fee of 4.5 microns increased by about 7% – 8%.
Guangdong Jiayuan Technology Co.Ltd(688388) in the investor survey in October, it was said that the company was in full production. In the medium and long term, the supply of high-end lithium battery copper foil will exceed the demand.
Strong orders combined with increased gross profit, and the enterprise performance continued to improve. According to the preliminary prediction of Tongguan copper foil, it will realize a revenue of 3.96 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 61.17%; The net profit was 350 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 387.26%.
According to the estimates of securities companies, the total capacity of China’s top ten lithium battery copper foil manufacturers in 2021, 2022 and 2023 is expected to reach 221000 tons, 341000 tons and 472000 tons respectively. Structurally, the demand for very thin copper foil below 6 microns is expected to be 115000 tons, 211000 tons and 288000 tons respectively, but the effective capacity of copper foil below 6 microns in China is only 94000 tons, 162000 tons and 245000 tons. If considering the limited output of important upstream manufacturers and the overall production expansion progress of the industry, the imbalance between supply and demand of high-performance lithium battery copper foil will continue until at least 2023.
(Shanghai Securities News)
