Auto & Transportation

Thanks to the rapid development of the new energy automobile industry in the first half of the year, the expansion of the battery new energy industry chain has hit. According to incomplete statistics from a reporter from the Securities Daily, in the first half of this year, there were 37 lithium battery investment projects, 34 of which announced the investment amount, with a total investment of more than 310 billion yuan.

As one of the most indispensable "formulations" for power batteries, the market demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate has grown significantly. Although many companies have advanced production expansion, the gap between demand and production capacity is difficult to fill, and product prices continue to rise. The reporter inquired about the data of Baichuan Yingfu on July 26 and showed that at present, the average market price of lithium hexafluorophosphate is stable at 420,000 yuan/ton, and the market price range is between 415,000 yuan and 435,000 yuan/ton. The production companies currently have no inventory and the stock is tight. Mainly to deliver orders.

"Currently, several leading companies that have issued announcements on supply and expansion, their project approval, approval, compliance and other procedures will not be available for a year or a half." A lithium battery practitioner told the "Securities Daily" reporter that lithium battery listed companies are currently proceeding Expansion of equipment is being paid, but the equipment processing progress is slow. In this context, in order to ensure the supply of raw materials, orders for the lithium hexafluorophosphate market are booming. Since May this year, leading listed companies in lithium batteries have signed many long-term agreements.

The Beijing Capital Securities Research Report stated that with the boost in demand for new energy vehicles, the boom in the lithium battery market has driven the rapid growth of demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate. At this stage, the scale of the lithium hexafluorophosphate industry continues to expand, and the production capacity is concentrated to the top. Small manufacturers have been unwilling to participate in the battle due to the low profitability of the last round of price down cycles, and the concentration of leading companies continues to increase.

Lithium battery giant rushes to sign lithium salt "long order"

In recent years, the overall sales of new energy vehicles in my country have shown an upward trend. In June 2021, despite being affected by the shortage of automotive chips and rising raw material prices, the production and sales of new energy vehicles maintained rapid growth. In the first six months of 2021, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in my country will be 1.215 million and 1.206 million respectively, a year-on-year increase of two times.

The rapid growth in sales of new energy vehicles has also led to the increase in the number of power batteries installed. In May 2021, my country's power battery installed capacity totaled 9.8GWh, a year-on-year increase of 178.2%. In the context of supply rigidity, power battery manufacturers have sprung up, but there is still a high-quality lithium hexafluorophosphate capacity gap in the domestic market. Therefore, since May, the leading listed companies of lithium batteries have gathered together to grab the lithium hexafluorophosphate and rushed to sign long-term agreements with foreign parties.

On May 27th, the Ningde era took the lead. On the same day, Kaixin Battery, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tinci Materials, stated that it signed a "Material Supply Framework Agreement" with Ningde Times, agreeing to supply Ningde Times with a corresponding amount of electrolyte products using 15,000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate within the validity period of the agreement. With this order, the prepayment for products of CATL is as high as 675 million yuan.

Since then, BYD has frequently made big moves. From July 17 to 19, Fluoride, Tianji and Yan'an Bikang respectively issued announcements on the supply of lithium hexafluorophosphate with BYD. Yan’an Bikang announced that Jiujiujiu Technology, the company’s holding subsidiary, and BYD’s supply chain have signed a "long-term cooperation agreement", stipulating that the supply from July to December 2021 shall not be less than 1,150 tons; the supply in 2022 shall not be less than 3,360 tons; The supply in 2023 will not be less than 3360 tons.

Skyrim said that Xintai Materials, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has also signed a "long-term cooperation agreement" with BYD on the long-term supply of lithium hexafluorophosphate. From July 2021 to December 2022, the supply of lithium hexafluorophosphate to BYD will not be less than 3,500 tons; in 2023, it will supply 3,600 tons to 7,800 tons. The specific available capacity will be negotiated again in December 2022.

Polyfluoride also announced that BYD will purchase no less than 6,460 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate from the company; the company also signed a "Sales Contract" with Funeng Technology, and Funeng Technology will purchase no less than 1,700 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate from the company.

"With the booming production and sales of new energy vehicles, the strong demand for electrolyte directly drove up the demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate. However, the previous backward production capacity has gradually cleared up, and the market capacity and orders have gradually moved closer to high-quality leading enterprises." Tianzhu Hong Fluoro Lithium Industry chairman Cao Bin predicted in an interview with a reporter from the Securities Daily that in 2021, lithium hexafluorophosphate will continue to maintain a high level of prosperity.

When the capacity expansion of lithium hexafluorophosphate is underway

It is understood that lithium hexafluorophosphate is currently the most commonly used electrolyte lithium salt, and it is also one of the indispensable formulas for power batteries. Due to the high technical threshold of lithium hexafluorophosphate, strict production process requirements, long time for environmental protection approvals and equipment purchases, it has a long production expansion cycle. At the same time, it will take a long time for production capacity to be released after expansion, and the expansion period will be more than 1.5 years. Therefore, when the demand for lithium hexafluorophosphate is strong and the industry operating rate is high, the supply elasticity of this link is insufficient, and the price is likely to rise.

It is precisely under the dual impetus of increasing demand and rising prices that Lithium hexafluorophosphate production companies such as Duo Fluoride, Tianci Materials, and Tianci shares have successively increased their production capacity. In addition, the lithium hexafluorophosphate production capacity of companies including Yongtai Technology and Tianjin Jinniu will also be put into production within this year.

Polyfluoride said that the company's current production capacity of lithium hexafluorophosphate is 10,000 tons per year, and it will reach 15,000 tons per year in the second half of the year. On July 17, the company plans to use self-raised funds to invest in the construction of 100,000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate, 40,000 tons of lithium bisfluorosulfonimide (LiFSI) and 10,000 tons of lithium difluorophosphate projects, with a total investment of RMB 5.15 billion.

As a manufacturer of fluorine-containing medicines and new energy materials, Yongtai High-tech, a subsidiary of Yongtai Technology, intends to raise 794 million yuan by itself to invest in an industrialization project with an annual output of 20,000 tons of lithium hexafluorophosphate and 1,200 tons of related additives and 50,000 tons of hydrofluoric acid. On June 5, Inner Mongolia Yongtai, a subsidiary of the company, plans to invest in the third phase of the project, with an additional investment of 150 million yuan, forming an annual production capacity of 3,000 tons of FEC and 5,000 tons of VC.

On June 17, Jiujiang Tinci New Power, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tinci Materials, invested in the construction of the "62,000 tons of electrolyte basic materials project" with a total investment of 513 million yuan; the wholly-owned sun company Chizhou Tinci High-tech Investment and Construction "annual output of 152,000 Tons of Lithium Battery New Materials Project", with a total project investment of 1.049 billion yuan; the company also established a joint venture company to invest in the construction of "300,000 tons of iron phosphate project (Phase I)" with a total project investment of 504 million yuan.

"The global demand for new energy vehicles has clearly driven lithium hexafluorophosphate. Because the electrolyte is the global supply, the main production location of lithium hexafluorophosphate is in China. It is expected that the performance of relevant domestic manufacturers will continue to increase and the expansion of production capacity will continue." Sina Finance columnist Lin Shi said, 2021 is a definite year for global new energy vehicles. Globally, Europe is expected to produce and sell 1.6 million to 1.7 million vehicles; the US market will significantly increase the growth of new energy vehicles due to the pressure of Tesla Model Y and Chinese joint venture brands due to double points pressure. quantity. He predicts that the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate will also be adjusted upwards, and is optimistic about the market outlook.

"In the long run, after the cost and impurity issues are resolved, it is expected that in five years, Lithium Bisfluorobomionimide can replace 50% of lithium hexafluorophosphate, and its usage will exceed 40,000 tons." Cao Bin told reporters that lithium hexafluorophosphate Although it is good, there are still problems such as poor thermal stability and easy hydrolysis. The country continues to put forward higher requirements for the safety of new energy vehicles in the future. As a better electrolyte solute in terms of safety and stability, lithium bisfluorosulfonium ammonium is expected to become the best choice for replacing lithium hexafluorophosphate in the future.