Key investment points
Lamination is the core link of the middle section, and the soft bag & long and thin square battery drives the demand of the lamination machine: winding / lamination is the core link of the middle section cell assembly process of lithium battery. Compared with the winding process, the battery formed by lamination has the advantages of higher energy density, more stable internal structure, higher safety and longer cycle life, but it faces pain points such as low efficiency and high equipment investment. We believe that as China’s excellent laminating machine manufacturers increase research and development to continuously improve the efficiency of laminating machines and reduce the cost of domestic laminating machines in large quantities, the problems of low efficiency and high cost of laminating process are expected to be solved. With the continuous increase of the proportion of soft packs & the rapid development of long and thin square batteries, there is a broad demand for lamination: (1) soft packs are naturally suitable for lamination process. With the continuous maturity of technology, the proportion of soft pack batteries with better performance will continue to increase; (2) New energy vehicles put forward higher requirements for the safety and energy density of power batteries, and various battery manufacturers have put forward solutions for the differentiation of square batteries, such as Byd Company Limited(002594) launching blade batteries, honeycomb energy launching short knife batteries, China Innovation Airlines launching all polar ear laminated cells and onestopbetter. We believe that with the gradual increase of the size and thickness of square cells, the important position of laminations is becoming more and more prominent. With the increasing proportion of soft pack batteries & the development of long and thin square cells, we predict that the global demand for laminating machines will exceed 30 billion yuan by 2025, with an average annual compound growth rate of 43% from 2022 to 2025.
The world’s top power battery players mostly choose lamination routes, and the lamination penetration rate will continue to improve: according to Gaogong lithium battery, the top ten global power battery installed capacity in 2021 are Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.Limited(300750) , Byd Company Limited(002594) , LG new energy, Panasonic, etc., among which the middle processes of LG new energy, ski and other soft package routes are lamination; Byd Company Limited(002594) (blade), honeycomb energy (short knife) and zhongchuangxin aviation (all polar ear laminated battery and one stop better) of the long and thin square route also adopt the lamination process, and some squares of vision power also choose the lamination route. The power battery plants of the middle lamination process have large-scale production expansion plans, which will drive the demand for lamination equipment.
At present, the laminating machine is still in the period of technical iteration, and new and old players of Chinese equipment manufacturers are actively layout: at present, the Z-shaped cutting and stacking integrated machine of the laminating machine has become a development trend, and the efficiency has been continuously improved. Leading Chinese equipment vendors like Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co.Ltd(300450) \ and other domestic equipment manufacturers have won the bid in large quantities, The localization trend of laminating machine will become increasingly clear in the future. In addition to Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co.Ltd(300450) , Guangdong Lyric Robot Automation Co.Ltd(688499) and other equipment manufacturers who have been deeply involved in the lithium battery industry for many years, more new entrants have also poured into the lamination industry, such as Wuxi Autowell Technology Co.Ltd(688516) , Bozhon Precision Industry Technology Co.Ltd(688097) and other equipment manufacturers in the photovoltaic and 3C industries, mainly due to the greater demand for the Lamination Market & the lamination technology route is still changing, and the new entrants have the corresponding underlying technology. We believe that the laminating machine link has high research value, (1) most downstream battery manufacturers and equipment manufacturers have in-depth cooperative relations. With the active expansion of power battery manufacturers, domestic laminating machine manufacturers are expected to obtain large quantities of orders, so we need to focus on tracking the situation of tourists and winning the bid under the development of relevant equipment manufacturers; (2) The laminating machine technology is still in the process of iteration. It is also crucial for domestic laminating machine manufacturers to continuously improve the equipment efficiency and launch the technical progress of cutting and stacking all-in-one machine.
Introduction to local key companies: (1) Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co.Ltd(300450) : the leader of lithium battery whole line equipment and lamination machine have received large quantities of orders. In March 2022, we won the order of 200 + laminating machines (cutting and stacking integrated machine and thermal composite laminating machine), with the maximum laminating efficiency of 800ppm (0.075s / PCS) and the stable efficiency of cutting and stacking of 0.45s/pcs (single station). (2) Guangdong Lyric Robot Automation Co.Ltd(688499) : from consumption to power, the whole line layout is realized, and the high-speed power cutting and stacking machine has made a breakthrough. The lamination speed of the high-speed cutting and stacking integrated machine is up to 0.15s/pcs (three stations, i.e. 0.45s/pcs for a single station). At the same time, the ultra-high-speed lamination process of the whole machine of 0.125s/pcs is being developed. Now the equipment has been widely recognized by the leading enterprises in the industry to realize mass production.
Investment suggestions: recommend Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co.Ltd(300450) , Guangdong Lyric Robot Automation Co.Ltd(688499) ; It is suggested to pay attention to Shenzhen Yinghe Technology Co.Ltd(300457) , Shenzhen Hymson Laser Intelligent Equipments Co.Ltd(688559) , Bozhon Precision Industry Technology Co.Ltd(688097) , Wuxi Autowell Technology Co.Ltd(688516) , Shenzhen Colibri Technologies Co.Ltd(002957) , Funeng Oriental Equipment Technology Co.Ltd(300173) (subsidiary ultra precision), Jiyang intelligence (unlisted) and Green Sheng (unlisted).
Risk warning: downstream expansion is less than expected; Equipment technology is backward.
