The performance of power lithium battery companies is polarized, and small and medium-sized companies still need to work hard
China's power battery industry is developing rapidly, but the performance of related companies last year was mixed.
In 2017, Ningde Times, BYD, and Watermar ranked the top three in the domestic installed capacity rankings with 10.5Gwh, 5.65Gwh, and 2.41Gwh respectively, and only Ningde Times accounted for 30% of the market share.
In addition to traditional battery giants such as BYD, Lishen, and BAK, four new faces appeared in the top ten companies in terms of power battery installed capacity in 2017-Funeng Technology, Beijing Guoneng, Yiwei Lithium Energy and Suzhou Xingheng also Quickly join the fierce competition of power batteries.
In terms of profits, the top ten battery companies in terms of installed capacity show a trend of polarization. CATL achieved a net profit of 4.288 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.8%. Waterma's parent company, Jian Rui Wo Neng, expects a loss of 3.68 billion yuan for the year.
As the profit of Waterma in 2017 did not meet expectations, and the future profit level was far from the expected, Jianrui Wo Neng issued an announcement on April 19 to fully accrue the goodwill generated by the acquisition of Waterma. In 2016, the goodwill generated by this merger was 4.61 billion yuan.
According to the annual reports or performance reports that have been published, BYD and Guoxuan Hi-Tech also experienced a decline in profits.
Affected by the decline in new energy subsidies and the decline in fuel vehicle sales, BYD's net profit in 2017 was 4.07 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 19.5%.
Guoxuan Hi-Tech stated in the announcement that due to the adjustment of the subsidy policy for new energy vehicles, the price of domestic power batteries generally fell in 2017, while the price of upstream raw materials rose, affecting the overall profitability. The company is expected to achieve a net profit of 920 million yuan in 2017, a year-on-year decrease of 10.73%.
Relevant data shows that as of the end of 2017, the price of power batteries has fallen by 20%-25% compared with the beginning of the year. The price of lithium iron phosphate battery pack dropped from RMB 1.8-1.9/Wh at the beginning of the year to RMB 1.45-1.55/Wh at the end of the year. The price of ternary power battery pack dropped from 1.7-1.8 yuan/Wh at the beginning of the year to 1.4-1.5 yuan/Wh at the end of the year.
According to the goal put forward by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in the "Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for the Automobile Industry", by 2020, the specific energy of the new energy vehicle power battery system will strive to reach 260 Wh/kg, and the cost will be reduced to less than 1 yuan/Wh.
However, the price of raw materials increased instead of falling. Statistics from the Everbright Securities Research Institute show that as electrolytic cobalt rose by more than 100% in 2017, lithium carbonate prices rose by more than 30%, and the cost of some types of ternary cathode materials even increased by nearly 50%. The price of negative electrode materials also increased slightly.
In 2017, the output value of the four key materials of China's power batteries (positive electrode material, negative electrode material, diaphragm, and electrolyte) was 61 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62%. The output value of cathode materials accounted for the largest proportion, accounting for 71.5%, and the output value of this material increased the most.
Affected by the sharp year-on-year increase in the cathode material business, Shanshan, a lithium battery material company, achieved a net profit of 896 million yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 171.42%. Dangsheng Technology's lithium battery material business revenue was 1.929 billion yuan, an increase of 89.41% year-on-year, and sales volume increased by 21.73% year-on-year. Driven by the lithium battery material business, Dangsheng Technology achieved a net profit of 250 million yuan in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 151.79%.
Some upstream companies have also joined the competition of ternary materials by expanding the layout of the industrial chain. At present, Huayou Cobalt's Quzhou plant has a ternary cathode material precursor production capacity of 20,000 tons per year. This year, Huayou Cobalt has also established a joint venture with South Korea's Posco Steel and LG Chem to produce precursors and cathode materials. Xiamen Tungsten Industry is also expanding its cathode material production capacity in Xiamen and Sanming, Fujian by a total of 16,000 tons, and its designed capacity in Ningde is 20,000 tons.
Also driven by the demand for power batteries and related lithium batteries, Tianqi Lithium, a new energy core material supplier for lithium batteries, hit a record high in 2017, with revenue of 5.47 billion yuan and net profit of 2.15 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 40%. Ganfeng Lithium achieved a net profit of 1.469 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 216.36%.
