The second phase expansion project of Zaiyuan in South Korea is expected to put into production in July and the annual production capacity of Binzhou Yuneng synthetic NMP will reach 60, 000 tons.

In February, global electric vehicle sales soared 136 per cent year-on-year to 269743, doubling for the fifth month in a row, of which about 173000 were pure electric vehicles, up 139 per cent from a year earlier. With the continuous efforts of new energy vehicle manufacturers, the global auto market ushered in a new round of development opportunities.

Recently, Xu Yibin, general manager of Binzhou Yuneng Chemical Co., Ltd. (Binzhou Yuneng), told the battery network that the development of new energy is a good opportunity. Any enterprise wants to seize such an opportunity. 2021 will be a year for the rapid development of the battery industry after a hundred flowers blossom and reshuffle. The strong support and promotion of the new energy industry, the large-scale construction of iron towers, 5G base stations and the rapid development of the shipbuilding industry will promote the development of the whole battery industry rapidly and on a large scale, while going hand in hand with the new energy industry and setting up a school of its own in the new energy field is a plan and goal that every NMP production enterprise wants at present.

According to the data, Binzhou Yuneng, founded in September 2011, is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in R & D, production and operation of fine chemical products.

According to Xu Yibin, Binzhou Yuneng Phase I project has four products, the main product NMP production equipment technology, control process international leadership, is currently a single set of the same type of production capacity, the best technology joint production device, the product quality is continuous and stable, the main indicators (purity, chromaticity, moisture, PH, etc.) are in the industry leading level, product quality reaches the electronic level.

The second phase of the ultra-clean and high-purity NMP project is equipped with 10, 100 and 1000 clean laboratories, with 5 sets of Agilent ICP-MS (3 sets of 7900 and 2 sets of 8900), 4 sets of Iron particle size analyzer, 2 sets of Metrohm ion chromatography and other high-end equipment in the industry.

Xu Yibin also told Battery Network that the company's GBL production is mainly for self-use, mainly for NMP production. At present, the company's NMP accounts for about 65% of the shipments in the lithium industry. While supplying the domestic market, the products are also exported to many countries and regions around the world, such as Japan, South Korea, India, the United States, Brazil, the Middle East and so on. The main customers are CATL, Guoxuan, Yiwei Lithium, Samsung, LG Chemistry and so on.

"Binzhou Yuneng NMP accounts for an increasing share of sales in the battery industry in recent years, from about 40 per cent in previous years to about 65 per cent now." Xu Yibin said that in the face of the rapid development of the lithium power industry, the company also has some corresponding capacity expansion plans, such as the second phase of the expansion project with South Korea Zaiyuan, which will be completed and put into production in early July 2021, when the NMP synthesis capacity will be increased by 30, 000 tons per year, making it the largest synthetic NMP manufacturer in the country.

With regard to the layout of overseas markets, Xu Yibin added that the joint venture project between the company and South Korea Zaiyuan can be regarded as one of the layouts in the overseas Korean market. In addition, the company is already registering the EU REACH certification, and the European market, which has not been explored, will be developed accordingly.

Xu Yibin said that at present, NMP has been fully localized, while exports are gradually increasing, with Binzhou Yuneng NMP accounting for about 40 per cent of exports. As NMP is a non-toxic and strong organic solvent, it is widely used in lithium electricity, CNT, aramid, PPS and other industries. The next few years will not only be the era of rapid development of lithium electricity, NMP industry will also embark on the rapid development of new energy industry.

"as NMP sales account for a growing proportion of the lithium industry, some leading companies have implemented the policy of adding more than 20 per cent of the new synthetic liquid to the recycled purification solution, which will increase the demand for NMP synthetic liquid." In Xu Yibin's view, this is a double-edged sword. The lithium industry, especially the power battery plate, needs a long payback cycle. How to grasp the cooperation with the lithium industry in the future will be a problem that every NMP manufacturer needs to consider seriously.

In addition, since the second half of 2020, especially after the Spring Festival, the prices of various chemical plates and battery materials have risen sharply, and some materials have even appeared similar monopoly sales and adopted competitive auction mode to grab goods. NMP manufacturers have been affected by raw material fluctuations and prices have continued to rise. Xu Yibin said that there are peaks and troughs in any market, and every rise and fall of the market has its own inevitable factors.

Xu Yibin revealed that Binzhou Yuneng currently has sales companies and offices in Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou and other places. In the future, the company will continue to work hard to make good products and services to help the development of the new energy industry.