[investment] Samsung SDI cooperates with ecopro BM to build a cathode material production line with an annual output of 50000 tons

Recently, Samsung SDI announced that it had signed an agreement with ecopro BM, a Korean cathode material supplier, to jointly establish a joint venture to produce the next generation of cathode materials. At the same time, Samsung SDI also plans to invest in ecopro BM to establish a strategic partnership.

According to the agreement, ecopro BM will invest 72billion won (460million yuan) to hold 60% of the shares in the joint venture, and Samsung SDI will invest 48billion won (280million yuan) to hold 40% of the shares.

The two companies plan to complete the construction of a cathode material production line in Pohang City, Qingshang North Road by the end of the year, and put it into operation in the first quarter of 2022. After the completion of the construction, it will have an annual production capacity of 50000 tons. (source: SMM)

[investment] Fengyuan shares will raise no more than 450million yuan to expand the production capacity of high nickel ternary cathode materials

On the evening of February 27, Fengyuan shares (002805) issued a plan for non-public issuance of a shares in 2020. It plans to issue no more than 43.6112 million shares in a non-public manner, and the total amount of funds raised will not exceed 450 million yuan, which will be used for the construction project of high nickel ternary materials with an annual output of 10000 tons of lithium-ion batteries and the supplementary working capital project. It is reported that the total investment of the project is planned to be 585million yuan, of which 320million yuan is planned to be used.

Fengyuan Co., Ltd. said that after the completion of this fixed increase, the company will have a capacity of 15000 tons / year of ternary cathode materials, 10000 tons / year of lithium iron phosphate, and a total capacity of 25000 tons / year of cathode materials, effectively improving the company's market share, including 10000 tons / year of high nickel ternary cathode materials, which will help the company rank among the first echelon of the segmented industry. At the same time, a substantial increase in total production capacity will help to form a product scale effect, reduce marginal costs, generate synergy, and enhance the company's comprehensive market competitiveness. (source: battery bairenhui battery network)

[performance] the average selling price of cathode materials fell sharply, and Keheng's total revenue last year was 1.84 billion

On the evening of February 27, Keheng (300340) disclosed the 2019 annual performance express. The company achieved a total operating income of 1.84 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year decrease of 16.45%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 38.2968 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 28.4%.

At the end of the reporting period, the total assets of the company were 3.524 billion yuan, a decrease of 2.51% over the beginning of the period, the owner's equity attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 1.466 billion yuan, an increase of 2.30% over the beginning of the period, and the net assets per share attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 6.91 yuan / share, an increase of 2.37% over the beginning of the period. (source: battery bairenhui battery network)

[industry] Tesla may usher in another spring in the lithium salt industry of its own "cobalt free" battery

Recently, media reports said that Tesla and Ningde times discussed battery supply and planned to use "cobalt free" lithium iron phosphate battery (LTP) for production. The two sides are conducting intentional negotiations. Ningde times replied to the reporter of China Securities News on the 20th that the current cooperation with Tesla is not an "intentional agreement", and has signed a mass production supply pricing agreement with Tesla. Experts believe that Tesla's purpose of using lithium iron phosphate is to "reduce cost and increase capacity", and lithium iron phosphate batteries are resurgent again, which is beneficial to the lithium salt industry.

Car analysts of CICC pointed out that the bottom of the lithium iron phosphate industrial chain has passed, and the elasticity of the corresponding positive link is significant. The marginal improvement of the pattern of lithium carbonate supply exceeding demand is expected to usher in a significant improvement in 2020. The battery sector is expected to directly benefit from the cost reduction and competitiveness improvement brought about by lithium iron phosphate batteries; The demand elasticity of the positive link is significant, and the advantages of leading enterprises are prominent; The demand margin of lithium carbonate is good. (source: China Securities News · China Securities Network)

[observation] first lithium and then cobalt, the sales of electric vehicles rose or triggered a material supply crisis

According to foreign media reports, the sales of electric vehicles are soaring, and factories are trying their best to produce as many batteries as possible. But as demand rises, the supply of battery materials will only get worse. It is estimated that the global production of electric vehicles will exceed 4million this year and increase to 12million in 2025. In Europe alone, 540000 electric vehicles will be sold this year, up from 319000 last year. To do this, we not only need super factories to make batteries, but also need to obtain key materials, especially metals such as lithium and cobalt, and the gold rush for these two materials has begun.

No matter what the material in question is, one solution to the shortage of supply may be recycling, which will help reduce the impact of electric vehicle batteries on the environment, while also reusing key materials, which means that fewer quantities need to be mined and processed. "Some of these batteries will continue to burst into 'second life' in other potentially less demanding applications. However, the ultimate fate of all lithium-ion batteries should be that they should be recycled when they are finally no longer usable," Harper said

But at present, Harper's research shows that the existing efforts to recycle such batteries are not suitable for the scale brought by the transformation to electric vehicles. He said: "of course, a large number of electric vehicle batteries will take some time to become a resource. At the same time, the supply of electric vehicle batteries will have to come from primary resources, but we believe that recycling will play a key role in the future and provide materials for our automotive industry."

But this is only one of the solutions to a wide range of problems. Turning to electric cars requires more batteries. At present, the production of batteries is a big bottleneck, but the next bottleneck may be the supply problem. We can reinvent batteries with different materials, solve the recycling dilemma, or simply dig more lithium and cobalt from the ground. But if the industry does not solve this problem quickly, the electric vehicle industry will fall into a staggering situation. (source: Tencent Technology)

[performance] shengtun mining plans to issue 2.386 billion yuan of convertible bonds to improve the overall development strategy of cobalt material business

On February 26, shengtun mining (600711) announced that the company's public offering of 2.386 billion yuan of convertible corporate bonds (hereinafter referred to as "shengtun convertible bonds", code "110066.sh") has been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in document zjxk [2020] No. 246.

The announcement shows that the raised funds are fully invested in the following projects after deducting the relevant issuance expenses: the annual output of 30000 tons of electric copper and 5800 tons of crude cobalt hydroxide (metal) hydrometallurgy project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the supplementary working capital.

Shengtun mining said that in order to further ensure the continuous and stable supply of upstream resources, respond to the national industrial policy, expand the scale of copper and cobalt production, and improve profitability, the company plans to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to build a 30000 ton electricity copper and 5800 ton crude cobalt hydroxide (metal) hydrometallurgy project. The production process adopts acid leaching, extraction, electrowinning, cobalt precipitation hydrometallurgy, Beijing mining and Metallurgy Technology Group Co., Ltd. was entrusted to carry out the feasibility study of the project. The project is an important deployment to improve the overall development strategy of the company's cobalt material business and strengthen the layout of overseas raw materials. After the project is put into operation, the company's copper and cobalt metal production capacity and output will increase significantly, improve the industry status, and enhance its core competitiveness and profitability. (source: battery bairenhui battery network)

[performance] the price of cobalt metal fell sharply, and the net profit of Hanrui cobalt industry fell by 98.51% in 2019

On the evening of February 28, Hanrui cobalt (300618) released its 2019 annual performance express. Last year, the company achieved a revenue of 1.78 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 36.06%; The net profit was RMB10 million, a year-on-year decrease of 98.51%; The basic earnings per share is 0.04 yuan.

Hanrui cobalt said that in 2019, due to changes in the market environment, the price of cobalt metal fell sharply year-on-year, the gross profit margin of the company's cobalt products decreased, and the total operating income, operating profit, total profit and net profit decreased significantly during the reporting period. (source: battery bairenhui battery network)

[performance] the sales volume of lithium iron phosphate increased, and the total revenue of German nano last year was 1.054 billion yuan

On the evening of February 27, German nano (300769) released its 2019 annual performance express. Last year, the company achieved a total operating revenue of 1.054 billion yuan, an increase of 0.04% year-on-year; The total profit was 112 million yuan, an increase of 1.31% year-on-year; The net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 98.5481 million yuan, an increase of 0.44% year-on-year; The basic earnings per share is 2.52 yuan.

As of December 31, 2019, the total assets of German nano were 1.691 billion yuan, an increase of 66.06% over the beginning of the year; The owner's equity attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 947 million yuan, an increase of 90.51% over the beginning of the year.

It is reported that German nano is mainly engaged in the development of nano lithium ion battery material preparation technology, and the production and sales of related products, mainly including nano lithium iron phosphate, carbon nanotube conductive liquid, etc. The company was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange gem on April 15, 2019. Since its listing, the company has intensively announced a number of lithium iron phosphate investment projects. In January this year, German nano disclosed that the first phase of the lithium iron phosphate project with an annual output of 20000 tons invested and constructed in Qujing Economic and Technological Development Zone will be put into production. (source: battery bairenhui battery network)

[performance] affected by sqm impairment and lithium price decline, Tianqi lithium lost 2.824 billion in 2019

On the evening of February 29, Tianqi lithium (002466) released the announcement of 2019 annual performance express. The total operating revenue in 2019 was 4.836 billion yuan, a decrease of 22.56% over the same period last year; The net profit attributable to the shareholders of the listed company was -2.824 billion yuan, which turned from profit to loss over the same period of the previous year.

Tianqi lithium said that the sharp decline in performance was mainly due to the impact of adverse factors such as the industry cycle adjustment and the decline of national new energy vehicle subsidies. The sales volume of lithium concentrate products and the sales price of lithium chemical products in 2019 decreased compared with 2018, resulting in a decline in overall sales revenue.

In addition, the company analyzed the long-term equity investment of sqm and believed that there were signs of impairment of this asset. After testing, the provision for impairment of sqm was about 2.208 billion yuan; In the fourth quarter of 2018, the company added US $3.5 billion of M & A loans to purchase sqm equity, resulting in a significant increase in financial expenses. In 2019, the interest expenses of M & A loans totaled about 1.67 billion yuan. (source: battery bairenhui battery network)

[market] battery factories gradually resume production, and the price of raw materials tends to be rational

Battery and downstream terminal market: the outbreak of the epidemic led to the shutdown of the car market in February, and the sharp decline of consumers and workers. Although the terminal car market has resumed work in the near future, the production and sales volume in February is expected to hit a record low. On February 20, the Ministry of Commerce said that it encouraged all regions to introduce measures to promote the consumption of new energy vehicles according to local conditions according to the changes in the situation. It is expected that in the next few months, all provinces and cities may introduce relevant policies to stimulate the demand for electric vehicles. Last week, battery factories were still gradually resuming production, and the operating rate of large factories basically reached 60%. Because some small and medium-sized battery factories have not yet started, the average operating rate of the industry is only 30% - 40%. With the recovery of logistics and the increase of the number of workers, it is expected that the downstream will gradually resume normal production in the first ten days of March, and the demand for raw materials in the upstream will recover synchronously.

Ternary materials: the price of ternary materials on last Wednesday was flat compared with the previous week. Last Wednesday, Yuan material enterprises had some order demand, but due to the low operating rate of downstream battery plants, weak market demand and strong terminal bargaining power, the price of Yuan material failed to rise as expected. At present, most material factories are still making orders before the year. Last week, the logistics fee fell, and the delivery was not greatly affected. The price of SMM ternary material (type 523) is 127000-139000 yuan / ton, with the average price unchanged from the previous week. The price of SMM ternary material (type 622) is 145000-153000 yuan / ton, with the average price unchanged from the previous week.

Lithium iron phosphate: the price of lithium iron phosphate last week was flat compared with the previous week. At present, the operating rate of downstream battery plants is less than 50%, and there are no new orders for the time being. The local logistics of some iron lithium manufacturers in Jiangxi and Guizhou has not been fully restored, and the logistics fees have doubled. At present, only complete vehicle equipment can be used, so it is difficult to transport zero orders. Considering that the price of iron phosphate is currently at a high level, if the price is still not reduced in March, the price of iron lithium may rise slightly. Last week, the price of SMM lithium iron phosphate (power type) was 39000-42500 yuan / ton, with the average price unchanged from the previous week.

Future forecast: downstream demand is impacted by the epidemic, and there is no obvious willingness to purchase in the short term; With the recovery of production of upstream raw material enterprises and the smoothness of logistics, the short-term structural supply shortage has gradually eased, and the price of cobalt and lithium has returned to a rational range. The cobalt price showed signs of correction in the second half of the week. Although there were high quotations in the lithium price market, transactions were sporadic. Whether the transaction could be concluded still needs to observe the downstream rigid purchase quantity. Focus on the development trend of the epidemic in Japan and South Korea. If there is no significant improvement in the first quarter, it may affect the export demand of domestic materials and lithium salts. (source: Shanghai Nonferrous Metals network)

[battery think tank] the expansion of cathode materials continues, and the technical road dispute arises again

Although the first quarter was the off-season for cathode materials and the downstream demand was weak, the capital market performed more actively.

Recently, a number of domestic listed companies of cathode materials and raw materials, such as Fengyuan Co., Ltd., Dow Technology Co., Ltd. and greenmead, have put forward plans to increase and expand production. Samsung SDI of South Korea also announced last month that it would cooperate with ecoprom to build a production line of cathode materials with an annual output of 50000 tons.

At the same time, affected by Tesla's "cobalt free" fog, the technical route dispute between lithium iron phosphate and ternary materials resurfaced, the cobalt plate fell sharply, and the lithium iron phosphate battery plate strengthened.

Article source:Battery net