Operation of China's lithium-ion battery industry in 2022

In 2022, China's lithium-ion battery industry adhered to supply-side structural reform, accelerated technological innovation, transformation and upgrading, continuously improved the supply capacity of advanced products, and maintained a rapid growth overall.

First, the output continued to grow rapidly and the industrial scale continued to expand.

According to the industry specification announcement, the enterprise information and the estimation of research institutions, the output of lithium ion batteries in China will reach 750 GWh in 2022, with a year-on-year increase of more than 130%, among which the output of energy storage lithium batteries will exceed 100 GWh; The output of lithium first-order materials such as cathode materials, cathode materials, diaphragms and electrolytes was about 1.85 million tons, 1.4 million tons, 13 billion square meters and 850000 tons respectively, with a year-on-year increase of more than 60%; The industrial scale was further expanded, and the total industrial output value exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan.

The second was to accelerate the expansion of industrial applications and accelerate the process of dual carbon.

In 2022, lithium battery accelerated its rise and usher in a growth window in the field of new energy vehicles, as well as in the field of solar energy storage, communication energy storage, household energy storage and other energy storage fields. In 2022, China's new energy vehicle power battery capacity was about 295GWh, and the cumulative installed growth rate of lithium battery exceed 130%. In 2022, China's lithium battery exports totaled 342.65 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 86.7%, making positive contributions to the efficient development and utilization of new energy and the green and low-carbon transformation of the global economy and society.

Third, the pace of technological progress has been accelerated, and advanced products have emerged in an endless stream.

Backbone enterprises have accelerated their layout in the direction of efficient system integration and ultra-large capacity battery cells, and the system energy density of advanced battery products has exceeded 250Wh/kg; The new battery products with flexibility, low temperature resistance and water resistance have been successfully applied in the Winter Olympics equipment; The new generation of information technology and new energy storage products are further integrated. Intelligent liquid cooling technology and other technologies significantly enhance the thermal management level of the energy storage system and reduce the system security risks.

Fourth, the enthusiasm for investment in the industry was high, and the whole chain strengthened collaborative cooperation.

According to incomplete statistics, in 2022, China had more than 40 planned projects in the core link, with a planned total capacity of more than 1.2 TWh and a planned investment of 430 billion yuan. The price of upstream products fluctuated, and the price of lithium secondary materials repeatedly rose and fell. The average price of battery grade lithium carbonate and battery grade lithium hydroxide (micro powder grade) in 2022 reached 481,000 yuan/ton and 464,000 yuan/ton respectively. Lithium battery enterprises strengthened the upstream and downstream cooperation of the industrial chain through investment, equity participation, long order signing, joint research and other forms.

(Note: the above data are from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)

Translated by; WONDEE Autoparts

2023/3/3