Understanding lithium demand, page-584

Ningde era (CATL) increases its investment in German battery plant by 10 billion yuan, and the shortage of raw materials is still a worry.

Future Auto Daily
9 hours ago

Demand surges, shortage of raw materials



Image from Ningde Times official website

Recently, the Ningde era announced a capital increase plan for its German battery production plant , which will increase the original investment of 240 million euros to not more than 1.8 billion euros (about 13.946 billion yuan), which will be self-raised by the company. The capital increase plan was passed by the company within the company. The German factory from achieving the world's largest battery factory of the target and taking a step forward.

The Ningde era is the world's largest supplier of power batteries, accounting for 22.64% of the global market share. In July last year, it signed an agreement with the German government and started the construction of its first overseas factory. The plant is mainly engaged in the research and development and production of lithium-ion batteries. It is expected to be put into operation in 2021. The initial planned production capacity is 14GWh. It is estimated that theannual production capacity will be 60GWh in 2026. This figure exceeds the total installed capacity of China's power battery (57.35Gwh) in 2018 .

The decline in China's auto sales and the lack of German local battery suppliers are the main reasons for the establishment of the factory in Germany during the Ningde era. Chinese auto sales have fallen for 12 consecutive months due to slowing economic growth and weak consumer demand. In Europe, due to the lack of local battery manufacturers, the dependence on Asian battery suppliers such as China, Japan and South Korea is serious. In July last year , the Ningde era won a 4 billion euro lithium battery purchase order from BMW, of which 1.5 billion euros of batteries will be produced in the German battery factory in Ningde era.

The first overseas factory to increase capital is the first step in the Ningde era's demand-oriented international expansion. German car companies including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler, Jaguar Land Rover and PSA provided ample battery order demand for the Ningde era. However, the differences between China and Germany in terms of legal system, policy system, business environment, and the current shortage of raw materials for lithium batteries in Germany are the constraints of Germany in the Ningde era.

Matthias Wachter, Director of BDI Safety and Raw Materials of the German Industry Association, said publicly : "As the demand grows faster than the capacity, the supply of raw materials (lithium batteries) has entered a bottleneck stage. The supply of raw materials such as cobalt, graphite, lithium and manganese is insufficient. The burgeoning of new technologies in Germany will be limited."