Driven by the development of the new energy automobile industry, the ternary cathode material market has broad prospects

The ternary cathode material refers to the lithium battery cathode material made of manganese, cobalt and nickel. Compared with other cathode materials, ternary cathode materials have the advantages of high energy density, good comprehensive performance, and wide range of applications, which play a decisive role in the basic performance of lithium batteries.

According to the “2022-2027 China Nernary Cathode Materials Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center , ternary cathode materials are lithium battery cathode material segment products, occupying nearly 40.0% of the market share. In recent years, driven by market demand, my country’s ternary cathode material industry has developed rapidly. In 2021, my country’s ternary cathode material shipments reached 436,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 51.2%. As the prosperity of emerging industries such as new energy vehicles continues to increase, it is expected that by 2025, my country’s ternary cathode material shipments will exceed 2 million tons.

The upstream of the ternary cathode material industry chain involves raw material suppliers such as manganese, cobalt, nickel, conductive agents, and binders. At present, the prices of manganese, cobalt, and nickel in my country continue to rise. In addition, the origin of the ternary cathode material is fixed and the channel dependence is strong, resulting in the ternary cathode material. Production costs have increased significantly; the midstream includes manufacturers of ternary cathode materials and ternary cathode material precursors. In 2021, my country’s ternary cathode material precursor shipments reached 623,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 85.6%; the downstream is the application field, including storage Power stations, mineral extraction, new energy vehicles, 3C digital products, material processing, metal smelting, etc.

New energy vehicles are the largest demand side for ternary cathode materials. In recent years, driven by the “double carbon” goal, my country’s new energy vehicle market demand has become increasingly strong. Ternary cathode materials have the advantages of high energy density, high specific capacity, and high rate, and can fully meet the production needs of new energy vehicle power batteries. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first three quarters of 2022, my country’s cumulative sales of new energy vehicles reached 4.567 million units, a year-on-year increase of 110.0%, exceeding the full-year sales in 2021. In this context, the scale of my country’s ternary cathode material market will continue to expand.

The main global suppliers of ternary cathode materials include South Korea’s LG Chem, South Korea’s Ecopro Company, China’s Rongbai Technology, Germany’s BASF, etc. The main manufacturers of ternary cathode materials in my country include Tianjin Bamo, Shanshan Co., Ltd., Dangsheng Technology, Changyuan Lithium Science and Technology, Rongbai Technology, etc. Among them, Tianjin Bamo, Dangsheng Technology and Rongbai Technology are among the leaders in my country’s ternary cathode material industry, with a market share of 38.0%.

Industry analysts said that cathode materials play a decisive role in the performance and cost of lithium batteries, and ternary cathode materials are its segmented products. It has the advantages of high energy density and high rate, and has gradually become the mainstream product of lithium battery cathode materials. Nernary cathode materials are widely used, and benefiting from the continued growth in sales of new energy vehicles, the future development prospects of the industry will continue to improve. With the continuous innovation of R&D and production technology, the production cost of my country’s ternary cathode materials is expected to decrease, which will drive the continued growth of its output.