Recently, listed companies in the lithium battery industry chain have successively disclosed in the third quarter report of 2020 that more than 60% of the 65 listed companies have increased their revenue and net profit to varying degrees, and the decline of some enterprises is gradually narrowing, and the recovery response of the power battery industry chain is strong.

According to the statistics of the "monthly database of power batteries" released by the Institute of advanced industry research (GGII), the installed capacity of power batteries in the third quarter was 16.67gwh, an increase of 35.5% year-on-year. The installed capacity of power battery achieved positive growth year-on-year for the first time in a single quarter this year.

The performance of European new energy vehicles is even stronger. From July to August, European new energy vehicles accounted for 44% of the world share, slightly higher than China's 41% share. In September, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in Europe was about 166000, an increase of 181% year-on-year, a record high.

To be sure, as the global new energy vehicle industry heats up, the battery supply volume of the head power battery enterprises to the international car enterprises is still the opportunity for the industrial chain enterprises to bind the head enterprises.

At the same time, material and equipment enterprises actively enter the overseas market, supporting international mainstream power battery manufacturers. Under the situation of "new infrastructure" of global power batteries, it will also drive relevant supply chain enterprises in China to continue to benefit.

lithium battery

According to the statistics of Gaogong lithium battery, of the 16 listed companies involved in lithium batteries, 13 achieved positive year-on-year revenue growth, and 10 achieved year-on-year net profit growth.

Due to the recovery of the global terminal new energy vehicle market, the power battery business segment of listed companies generally showed varying degrees of growth. Some enterprises either rely on traditional business and industrial investment, or benefit from the layout and development in the digital, energy storage and small power markets. The lithium battery sector has driven the overall performance to be red.

GGII believes that the combination of favorable policies and the recovery of market consumption sentiment accelerated the capacity utilization rate of battery enterprises in the third quarter, and the market sales of Tesla's domestic model 3 continued to strengthen. The annual sales of domestic new energy vehicles in 2020 is expected to exceed 1.1 million.

It is worth noting that at present, the number of domestic power battery enterprises entering the supply chain of international car enterprises has increased. Among them, Ningde era has matured its supply of BMW, Volkswagen, PSA, etc., and Tesla has also begun to supply in batches; Yiwei lithium energy also supplies modern Kia in batches. In addition, GuoXuan high tech, Funeng technology and Xinwangda have all won the project fixed points of international automobile enterprises.

In the new round of global new energy vehicle development, Chinese power battery and industrial chain enterprises will play an increasingly important role.

At the same time, the cost performance advantages of lithium batteries in the fields of bicycles, communication base stations, energy storage, electric tools, ships, engineering machinery and so on are beginning to highlight, and the rapid increase of market segments is also expected to drive the rapid growth of lithium batteries.

Four key materials of lithium battery

Among the 21 listed companies of lithium battery materials, 14 of them achieved positive year-on-year net profit growth, accounting for 66.7%.

In the positive material sector, the growth rate of ternary material enterprises was the first to recover. The net profit of rongbai technology Q3 was 59 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 33.59%. The net profit of dangsheng technology Q3 was 119 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 72.83%.

In terms of cathode materials, the global prosperity of new energy vehicles continues to rise, and cathode materials usher in a quarterly inflection point. Including putailai, Shanshan shares, national technology and Zhongke electric, the negative material shipments in the third quarter rebounded significantly month on month. At the same time, leading enterprises are also stepping up the deployment of negative material production capacity and graphitization processing capacity.

It is worth noting that this year, many "recruits" joined the expansion of cathode material production, including jintaineng, Hubei Baoqian and Fuan carbon materials, which announced the investment / commencement of cathode material projects this year.

In the diaphragm sector, horizontal mergers and acquisitions in the industry have further concentrated the competition pattern of the diaphragm, and the Q3 global lithium battery industry has recovered and accelerated the release of production capacity, driving the performance of the diaphragm leader to resume growth. At the same time, diaphragm head enterprises are accelerating overseas expansion and supply.

Among them, after signing the strategic agreement with northvolt, Xingyuan material has now set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Sweden and carried out the construction of the European factory phase I project. Q3 revenue of the company was 270 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 66.11%; The net profit was 31 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.73%.

In the electrolyte sector, the performance of the two electrolyte leaders increased well. The strong growth of the European new energy vehicle market, the accelerated recovery of the domestic new energy market, and the dislocation of supply and demand led to the rise in the price of lithium hexafluorophosphate. The superposition of many factors led to the rise of the leading volume of electrolyte.

Among them, the Q3 revenue of Tianci materials was 1.103 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 47.76%; The net profit was 207 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 423.36%. The revenue of new Zhoubang Q3 was 812 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 26.84%; The net profit was 136 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.34%.

Upstream lithium cobalt material

Among the 9 listed companies involved in cobalt and lithium materials, 7 achieved year-on-year revenue growth and 6 achieved year-on-year net profit growth. Among them, cobalt related listed companies have the best performance. The revenues and net profits of Huayou cobalt, shengtun mining, Luoyang molybdenum and Hanrui cobalt all increased significantly to varying degrees.

The overseas epidemic continues to affect, and the supply of cobalt ore is tight. The rise of cobalt price and the recovery of gross profit margin of cobalt products have become important reasons to boost the substantial year-on-year growth of net profits of the above-mentioned enterprises.

According to the London Metal Exchange (LME) data, cobalt prices showed a "concave" trend this year. Since August, cobalt prices have started to rise, breaking through the $30000 / ton mark, and have remained between $33000 and $35000 / ton so far. Compared with the average price last year, this price has increased by 10% to 17%. In the third quarter, the average price of cobalt powder was 297300 yuan / ton, an increase of 16.88% year-on-year and 7.41% month on month.

Industry analysts believe that lithium prices may also usher in a price inflection point next, due to the impact of Australian mining clearance and the rising demand of the industry.

Lithium battery equipment

Among the 12 listed lithium battery equipment companies, 9 listed companies achieved positive year-on-year growth in revenue, 7 achieved year-on-year growth in net profit, and both revenue and net profit increased. Leading enterprises such as smart, Han's laser, Hangke technology, Funeng Oriental (acquisition of ultra precision), Xingyun shares, golden galaxy, etc.

In the third quarter, the blockbuster event in the lithium battery equipment industry was particularly noteworthy with Ningde era's participation in leading intelligence. The combination of the two giants is bound to cause certain changes in the industry. Driven by this, it is not ruled out that more power battery enterprises and equipment enterprises will continue to upgrade their cooperation in the future.

It is worth mentioning that the fourth quarter is the peak bidding season for lithium battery equipment orders. At present, leading enterprises including Ningde times, LG chemistry, Panasonic and others have clearly released production expansion signals, and recently Ningde times power new base equipment bidding has been launched one after another, which can clearly feel that a new round of power battery capacity competition has begun. For high-quality lithium battery equipment enterprises, there will undoubtedly be important development opportunities.

Article source:High tech lithium power grid