On February 7, data released by South Korean market research institute SNE Research showed that in 2021, the global installed capacity of power batteries reached 296.8 GWh, an increase of 102.3% year-on-year. The performance of Chinese battery companies is very excellent, CATL has won the global battery installed capacity champion for the fifth consecutive year, and BYD has also achieved a good performance far beyond that of Japanese and Korean battery companies.
In December 2021, the global installed power battery capacity was about 43.7 GWh, an increase of 53.2% year-on-year, the 18th consecutive month of growth. Among them, CATL also continued its excellent performance in the second half of the year, with an installed capacity of 16.5 GWh and a market share of 37.9% to lead again; LG New Energy still ranked second, with a market share decline of 5.8 percentage points; in the case of the 4th place Panasonic battery installed capacity fell by 8% year-on-year, BYD further seized its market share and maintained the third ranking unchanged for three consecutive months.
SK On, Samsung SDI, Zhongxin Airlines (formerly AVIC Lithium Battery) and Guoxuan Hi-Tech maintained their rankings of 5th-8th place; Sunwoda rose one place to 9th, up 622.6% year-on-year; The installed capacity of Envision Power increased slightly by 5.3%, squeezing out Ewell Lithium Energy to return to 10th place in the list.
For the whole year of 2021, CATL, LG New Energy and Panasonic are the top 3 battery manufacturers in the annual list of battery installed capacity. The installed capacity of catheter reached 96.7 GWh, with a market share of nearly one-third; but the market share of LG New Energy and Panasonic fell by 3.1 percentage points and 6.2 percentage points respectively. The installed capacity of BYD in the 4th place increased by 16.5 GWh year-on-year, which is almost equivalent to the annual installed capacity of the 5th place SK On, and far exceeds the annual installed capacity of the 6th place Samsung SDI.
In addition to Vision Power, the installed capacity of Chinese battery companies such as Zhongxin Airlines and Guoxuan Hi-Tech increased by more than 100% year-on-year, and the year-on-year performance of Hive Energy was even more eye-catching, even more than 400%, ranking 10th in the annual list.
(Source: CATL)
The most noteworthy is the "five consecutive championships" Ningde era. As a battery supplier to major electric vehicle companies such as Tesla, CATL has a large number of customers, which has helped the company increase the installed capacity of electric vehicle batteries. In addition to Tesla, CATL also provides electric vehicle batteries for companies such as Weilai and Volkswagen, and will supply batteries for Fisker's upcoming Ocean SUV.
In addition, CATL has also developed other battery technologies, such as sodium-ion batteries, and the company recently announced EVOGO , a power exchange service brand. CATL has developed so many battery technologies that it is not difficult to understand that it will become the world's largest battery manufacturer.
CATL also actively laid out lithium and cobalt materials last year. On November 25, CATL executives met with Argentina's state-owned energy company YPF, and YPF President Pablo González said, "It is likely to establish a joint venture with CATL." Argentina is one of the "lithium triangles" in South America, and YPF is exploring for potential lithium mines in areas such as Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca in Argentina. Last year, CATL also acquired a quarter of Congo's Kisanfu cobalt reserves for $138 million. Kisanfu is one of the richest cobalt mines in the world.
(Image source: LG New Energy)
Looking forward to 2022, LG New Energy is undoubtedly the world's biggest rival to maintain the continuous championship in the Ningde era. LG New Energy CEO Kwon Young-soo said at an online media conference before the listing that LG New Energy's market share will surpass that of CATL because of its wider customer base, which currently only operates factories in China. "We have received more orders, so we will surpass our competitors (CATL), and the market value gap between us and CATL will also narrow." LG New Energy will use the listing financing to build more factories overseas, expand R&D investment, and improve battery standards.
In addition, looking back at October to December last year, BYD's battery installed capacity exceeded Panasonic's, and the competition with Panasonic will be more intense. As COMPANIES SUCH AS BYD, ZHONGXIN Aviation, GUOXUAN HI-TECH and other companies further expand production capacity and optimize battery technology, they are expected to impact higher rankings. In 2022, let's wait and see!