About the four major competitive characteristics of the lithium battery separator industry

Lithium battery separators are generally divided into dry process and wet process according to the process. Therefore, the separator products are also divided into dry process and wet process. From the perspective of technological progress, my country’s lithium-ion battery separators have made major breakthroughs in the dry process and have world-class manufacturing levels. The wet separator process technology has also been continuously improved. In recent years, production capacity and output have increased steadily. With the continuous development of wet process technology, the competitive landscape of my country's lithium battery separator industry has also undergone some changes. In general, the competition in the lithium battery separator industry in my country presents the following characteristics: Feature 1: The proportion of wet-process separator production is increasing year by year. From the perspective of the process itself, dry-process separators and wet-process separators have their own advantages and disadvantages. Dry-process separators have advantages and disadvantages in the production process, Cost, environmental protection and economy have great advantages, while wet membranes have the advantages of low short-circuit rate, wide controllable range of porosity and air permeability.

From the perspective of current market applications, and from the selection of global lithium battery companies, dry-process separators and wet-process separators coexist. However, in recent years, as the proportion of ternary lithium batteries has increased, the proportion of wet diaphragm production has also steadily increased. The latest data shows that in 2017, the domestic production of wet-process diaphragms reached 806 million square meters, accounting for 56%, and the share exceeded that of dry-process diaphragms. In view of the respective characteristics of dry-process diaphragms and wet-process diaphragms, the future demand for wet-process diaphragms will gradually expand, but it will not completely replace dry-process diaphragms in a short period of time. Feature 2: High Concentration of Shipments. In terms of shipment volume, my country’s dry-process and wet-process diaphragm companies have a relatively high level of corporate concentration in 2017, especially for wet-process diaphragms, the top three companies’ shipments. The proportion reached 71%, and the top five accounted for 87%; the top three dry process companies accounted for 42%, and the top five accounted for 55%. Feature 3: Obvious regional production capacity Judging from the current regional distribution of lithium battery separator materials companies in my country, the overall concentration is relatively high, mainly in East China and Central China, with the production capacity ratio reaching 48% and 27% respectively; the production capacity in South China There is also 10%, and other regions are all below 10%. Feature 4: Accelerating production capacity expansion and intensifying competition in the future According to the data, as of the end of 2017, the domestic production capacity of lithium battery separators has been confirmed to be about 2.9 billion square meters. According to the current production capacity, the major companies with larger production capacity are Hunan Zhongli, Shanghai Enjie, Xingyuan Materials, Zhongxing New Materials, Tianjin Donggao, Suzhou Jieli, Henan Yiteng, etc., with a production capacity of 200 million square meters. Above, the total production capacity is 1.928 billion square meters, accounting for more than 67%. Analysis of the four major competitive characteristics of the lithium battery separator industry. Capacity planning of major domestic lithium battery separator companies (unit: 100 million square meters). In the future, the total planned new capacity of domestic lithium battery separator companies will exceed 6.2 billion square meters. In addition to the existing capacity, my country’s lithium batteries The diaphragm production capacity will exceed 9 billion square meters. From the perspective of enterprises, the production capacity advantages of Beixing New Materials and Shanghai Enjie will be further expanded by then. However, with the increase of market participants, industry competition will further intensify in the future.