Guide the power battery price to return to rationality
2022-04-06
Recently, new energy vehicles have been "rising". Affected by multiple factors such as industrial cycle, epidemic situation and international tension, the cost of raw materials in the upstream of automobile manufacturing industry continues to increase. For example, the price of battery grade lithium carbonate per ton has increased 10 times in one year. Some analysts believe that this has deviated from the law of supply and demand and is abnormal growth. Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary General of China Automobile Industry Association, said that judging from the perspective of demand, the price rise of lithium batteries may continue for some time. However, with the regulation of the competent authorities and the efforts of all parties, the price of power battery will gradually return to rationality. The price of raw materials rose across the board The main raw materials of power batteries include cathode materials, cathode materials, diaphragm and electrolyte. These raw materials are greatly affected by the prices of bulk commodities or chemical raw materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. Since the second half of last year, the prices of lithium, cobalt and nickel, the main raw materials of power batteries, have increased significantly. The latest data show that since December 21, 2021, the quotation of nickel has increased from less than 150000 yuan / ton to 220000 yuan / ton on March 20, and the highest point once exceeded 300000 yuan / ton; The quotation of cobalt in East China market has risen from less than 490000 yuan / ton to 566000 yuan / ton; The production price of lithium iron phosphate increased from less than 100000 yuan / ton to more than 150000 yuan / ton, an increase of nearly 60%. According to the data released by China automotive power battery industry innovation alliance, compared with the beginning of last year, the average price of mainstream ternary lithium battery cathode materials increased by 108.9%, the average price of lithium iron phosphate battery cathode materials increased by 182.5%, the average price of ternary lithium battery electrolyte increased by 146.2%, and the average price of lithium iron phosphate battery electrolyte increased by 190.2%. Zhang Feng, senior vice president of Funeng Technology (Ganzhou) Co., Ltd., admitted at the recently held forum of China electric vehicle hundred people's Association (2022), "the days of battery enterprises are very sad recently, especially affected by the rise in raw material prices. At present, Funeng is communicating the second round of price rise". "At the end of last year, Funeng has completed the communication with most customers on the price increase. Except for a few large customers, they have completed the price adjustment and will supply at a new price from January 1 this year." Zhang Feng said that with the further rise in the price of raw materials this year, Funeng began to communicate with individual customers and prepared to share the increased cost of raw materials from the price rise on January 1 to the end of March. The cost pressure brought by the price rise of power batteries will eventually be transmitted to the whole vehicle of new energy vehicles. Since March, nearly 20 new energy vehicle enterprises have announced price increases, involving nearly 40 models. The overall price increase of most automobile enterprises was controlled within 10000 yuan, and the price increase of Xiaopeng automobile was between 10100 and 32600. "The price of some of our battery manufacturers has risen sharply beyond our imagination." He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xiaopeng automobile, said that the impact of the price rise on automobile sales needs to be observed for another two or three months to see more clearly. There is no lack of capital speculation behind it In the first two months of this year, despite the impact of multiple epidemics, chip shortage and rising prices, the growth momentum of new energy vehicles in China remained unchanged. From the perspective of power battery loading volume, the cumulative year-on-year increase was 109.7%. Among them, the loading volume of ternary batteries accounted for 43.8% of the total loading volume, with a cumulative increase of 50.6% year-on-year; Lithium iron phosphate battery loading accounted for 55.9% of the total loading, with a cumulative increase of 203.1% year-on-year, showing a rapid growth momentum. The installed capacity of power batteries has increased significantly, which makes the problem of battery supply shortage more and more serious. Yin Tongyue, Secretary of the Party committee and chairman of Chery Automobile Company, said that with the increasingly hot track of new energy vehicles, the demand for power batteries is rising. At the same time, the supply of upstream raw materials and mineral resources is in short supply, which has become the bottleneck of the development of new energy vehicles. Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that the main reason for the sharp increase in the price of lithium carbonate in this round is the rapid growth of global demand for new energy vehicles since last year, which has produced a progressive demand amplification effect in the field of batteries and materials. At the same time, superimposed on the impact of the epidemic, the price fluctuation is greater. Ouyang Minggao believes that although the driving force for the growth of new energy vehicle sales will exist for a long time, the amplification of lithium resource demand caused by panic inventory reserves is only temporary. With the improvement of lithium carbonate supply capacity and the gradual growth of battery recycling industry, it is expected that lithium resources will restore the balance between supply and demand in two or three years. There are other factors contributing to the rise in battery costs. Chen Shihua pointed out that this round of unconventional rise in raw material prices deviates from the normal relationship between supply and demand and belongs to irrational rise. There are unfair competition behaviors such as hoarding and deliberately raising prices in order to seize the last window period before lithium capacity expansion. Chen Shihua said that driving up the price of raw materials for power batteries has affected the steady and healthy development of the new energy vehicle industry, which runs counter to the national development strategy and should be highly vigilant. All parties work together to ensure the security of the supply chain In view of the current sharp rise in lithium prices and raw materials of power batteries, the China Automobile Association said that since the second half of 2021, the price rise of raw materials has been included in the monitoring scope, and it has strengthened its action in the near future and submitted response suggestions to relevant competent departments. Relevant departments have also begun to take action. Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of industry and information technology, said recently that he would focus on meeting the production needs of power batteries, moderately accelerate the development progress of domestic lithium, nickel and other resources, and crack down on unfair competition such as hoarding and raising prices. Yin Tongyue said that the core materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium needed to manufacture power batteries are scarce resources and are heavily dependent on imports. He suggested that the national development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of industry and information technology and other departments formulate policies to include new energy power battery materials into the national strategic reserve resource management, set up special funds, support and encourage domestic enterprises to acquire foreign battery material resources, and ensure the safety of the new energy vehicle supply chain. For the new energy vehicle industry, to improve the supply level of battery supply materials, we should rely on development and management, and promote scientific and technological innovation around resource mining and refining, battery technology R & D and innovation, and the construction of recycling system. Some experts believe that low nickel, low lithium, low cobalt or cobalt free batteries are the new development direction of power batteries. If they can reach the corresponding energy density, it will alleviate the supply and demand pressure of key raw materials from the source. Wu Kai, chief scientist of Ningde times, said that the company has launched the third generation CTP (high efficiency group) technology, which is internally called Kirin battery. He revealed that under the same chemical system and the same battery pack size, the power of Kirin battery increased by 13% compared with the 4680 system. Nan Jianxiong, CEO of Panasonic electric group, said that solving the problems of battery quality and safety, rational operation of charging facilities and total cost control of electric vehicles is the key to promote the further popularization of electric vehicles. Panasonic Electric Group will strive to achieve mass production of cobalt free batteries within three years. "Judging from the perspective of demand, the rise in the price of lithium batteries may last for some time." Chen Shibao said that through the efforts of all parties to stabilize the price of raw materials and stabilize the price of raw materials in the chain, Chen Shibao will certainly solve the problem of excessive price rise of raw materials. He suggested that the automobile industry should comply with the general trend of building a new development pattern and seize the rare historical development window of the new energy automobile industry. (Xinhua News Agency)
Edit：He Chuanning Responsible editor：Su Suiyue
Source：ECONOMIC DAILY
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