Cylindrical batteries are developing rapidly and the pre-plated nickel market has promising prospects

Pre-nickel plating is a technical process used in the production process of battery casings. The specific performance is as follows: nickel plating is performed on the basic steel before the battery casing is stamped, and then through high-temperature tempering treatment to allow mutual diffusion between the steel layer and the nickel layer. Penetrate to form a nickel-iron alloy layer to prevent the positive active material of the battery from oxidizing the steel shell, thereby achieving the purpose of protecting the iron matrix of the steel shell. The pre-nickel plating and post-nickel plating processes are mainly used in the production process of cylindrical battery cases. Compared with the post-nickel plating process, the pre-nickel plating process can not only control the thickness of the coating more accurately to achieve lightweight, but also greatly improve the post-stamping process. The consistency, air tightness, corrosion resistance and other key indicators of the battery shell meet the performance requirements of high-end lithium batteries.

In recent years, cylindrical batteries have developed rapidly, and companies have made plans. In September 2020, Tesla proposed the “4680” new cylindrical battery, which attracted widespread attention in the industry, and more and more industrial chain companies followed suit; January 2022 , Enjie Co., Ltd., Panasonic, Nord Co., Ltd., LG New Energy, Samsung, BAK, etc. have all proposed plans to layout and mass-produce “4680” cylindrical batteries. Driven by the rapid development of downstream industries, the demand for pre-nickel plating technology is growing rapidly.

The released “China Pre-nickel Plating Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 2022-2026” pointed out that pre-nickel plating The industry has high technical barriers. The electroplating solution formula, electroplating belt speed control, annealing temperature control and other processes require high technical strength of the company, and the research and development cycle is long. Due to this limitation, the pre-nickel plating process has been mainly used by Xinri for many years. Railway, TCC and other Japanese and Korean companies have a monopoly. There are few domestic companies with pre-nickel plating technology. In recent years, as local companies have become increasingly fierce, several companies such as Zhenjiang Dongfang Electric Heating Technology Co., Ltd., Hunan Lead Materials Co., Ltd. and Guangdong Sanmei have emerged. Among them, the gap between the mechanical properties of Dongfang’s electrothermal pre-plated nickel steel strips and Nippon Steel’s has been significantly narrowed, and the thickness of the alloy layer is slightly higher than that of Nippon Steel’s products.

Investment analysts pointed out that in recent years, due to the strong support of national policies and the rapid development of new energy vehicles and other industries, my country’s new energy batteries The industry is developing rapidly, and 4680 cylindrical batteries have the advantages of high energy density, safety, reliability, and fast charging. They have great potential for future development, which will greatly promote the rapid growth of demand for pre-nickel-plated products. However, from the supply side, only a few manufacturers in the world, such as Japan and South Korea, have mass production capabilities for pre-nickel plating, but they cannot meet the needs of future market development. This has brought good development opportunities to Chinese local companies. At the same time, as local companies actively deploy and continuously improve their process technology levels, the gap with leading international companies is increasingly narrowing, and the domestic substitution rate will continue to increase in the future.