Li Bin, who once said on the annual report telephone that he had no intention of raising prices in the short term, “can’t carry it”.
On April 10, Weilai announced that affected by the continuous sharp rise in the price of raw materials, Weilai will appropriately adjust the price of its products from May 10. Among them, the starting price of Weilai es8, ES6 and ec6 models will be increased by 10000 yuan, and the rental price of Weilai baas battery and the upgrade price of battery pack will also be adjusted accordingly.
In addition, due to the insufficient supply of parts, logistics obstruction and other factors, Weilai also announced the suspension of production recently.
From “no price increase” to “collective price increase of main models”, Weilai’s move seems to fulfill the view of Li Xiang, the founder of ideal automobile – “most of those that have not yet increased their prices have not been negotiated with battery manufacturers. After negotiation, they will generally increase their prices immediately.”
According to the statistics of the reporter of the securities times · e company, in March this year alone, more than 20 car companies announced price increases, involving only 70 new energy models, with price increases ranging from 3000 yuan to 35000 yuan on average.
Ma Xiaoli, Deputy Secretary General of China automotive power battery industry innovation alliance, said that the price rise of raw materials upstream of power batteries had an extremely bad impact on the market. At the same time, this also reflects the reality that the upstream industry can not keep up with the downstream development.
Soaring raw material prices push up enterprise costs
According to the latest data released by China Automobile Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as “China Automobile Association”), from January to March, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 1257000, a year-on-year increase of 1.4 times, of which the sales volume of pure electric vehicles was 107000, a year-on-year increase of 1.3 times.
According to the analysis of China Automobile Association, in the first quarter of this year, the market share of new energy vehicles has reached 19.3%, and the strategic leading role of the industry has been highlighted.
The exuberant terminal consumption has naturally led to a sharp rise in the loading volume of power batteries. According to the statistics of China automotive power battery industry innovation alliance, from January to March and from January to March this year, the cumulative loading volume of China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) batteries was 51.3gwh, up 120.7% year-on-year, almost in line with the growth rhythm of new energy vehicles.
Although the production and sales of China Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) automobile in the first quarter have both broken through 100, many people in the industry still expressed concern about the current development situation of the industry.
Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary General of China Automobile Association, said that at present, China’s economic operation is generally maintained within a reasonable range, but the complexity and uncertainty of China’s external environment have increased, and some situations have exceeded expectations. From the perspective of automobile supply side, the shortage of chips has not been significantly alleviated. The price of raw materials for power batteries has risen rapidly, further pushing up the manufacturing cost of enterprises’ products. The production and operation activities of automobile enterprises have been affected to a certain extent, and the overall situation is not as expected; From the perspective of automobile consumption, the consumption kinetic energy of automobile has been obviously insufficient, showing a certain decline compared with the same period.
Specifically in the field of new energy vehicles, the soaring price of raw materials for power batteries is obviously a key factor affecting the growth of the industry.
It is reported that at present, the material cost accounts for more than 80% of the cost of power battery, and the price change of key materials will directly affect the battery cost itself and then transmit it to downstream vehicle enterprises.
It is reported that up to now, the price of square ternary battery has increased from 0.66 yuan / wh in early 2021 to 1.09 yuan / wh, an increase of 65.15%; The price of square lithium iron phosphate battery also increased from 0.525 yuan / wh in early 2021 to 0.99 yuan / wh, an increase of 88.57%.
Ma Xiaoli said that the rise in the price of raw materials for power batteries and the soaring price of direct drive batteries have had an adverse impact on the industry. At the same time, the original cost advantage of lithium iron phosphate battery has been gradually diluted.
Industrial multi link supply-demand mismatch needs to be alleviated
\u3000\u3000 “There are three reasons for the soaring prices of raw materials. First, the supply and demand of some battery raw materials in China is always in a ‘tight balance’, and some materials are exported abroad; second, the production expansion cycle of power batteries is 6-8 months, while the production expansion cycle of raw materials is 18 months or even longer, resulting in asymmetric and mismatched information in the upstream and downstream of the industry; third, the ‘dual control’ policy introduced in many places, which is affected by factors such as limited electricity and environmental protection review , which also led to the delayed release of some mineral resource production capacity, “Ma Xiaoli said. At present, the core of the rise in the price of raw materials for power batteries is the mismatch between industrial supply and demand.
According to the market demand in 2022, Ma Xiaoli also made a corresponding forecast. According to the expected target of annual sales of 5.5 million new energy vehicles, the overall China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co.Ltd(600482) battery output this year is expected to reach 368.6gwh, including 157.6gwh of ternary battery and 210.4gwh of lithium iron phosphate.
Among them, the total demand for cathode materials is 746000 tons; The total demand for cathode materials is 343000 tons, the estimated demand for electrolyte is 221000 tons, and the estimated demand for diaphragm is 600 million square meters.
Ma Xiaoli said that at present, the short-term raw material resources in 3-5 years can still meet the development needs of power batteries, but in the long run, we should still pay close attention to the capacity matching of upstream and downstream industries and the reserve of key raw materials.
Ye Shengji, chief engineer and Deputy Secretary General of the China Automobile Association, also said in an interview with the securities times · e company that the explosive growth of the new energy vehicle market has significantly increased the demand for upstream raw materials, key materials and battery assemblies, resulting in a mismatch between supply and demand in multiple links of the new energy vehicle industry chain. In his opinion, it will take at least half a year or more for the price of power battery materials to return to normal and rational.
